New Danfoss Machine Controller Eases Autonomous Vehicle Development

Danfoss Power Solutions sees many benefits to the use of autonomy, and as such has developed a new machine controller to aid development of autonomous machines.

By Sara Jensen

Danfoss Power Solutions is continuing to grow its autonomous technology solutions. The company recently introduced its PLUS+1 XM100 autonomous machine controller, which aims to ease development of autonomous off-highway equipment for OEMs.

The new controller enables integration of Level 3 autonomy capabilities. Caleb Van De Stroet, Senior Technical Sales Engineer, Autonomy, Danfoss Power Solutions said during a recent webinar hosted by the company that this is the first autonomous controller Danfoss has released. He said it features a powerful CPU that is up to 10 times more powerful than the next closest Danfoss controller.

Inertial measurement unit (IMU) and GNSS receivers are integrated into the controller to enable machine location to be identified. An ethernet connection allows the connection of lidar sensors, while several CAN ports are included for radar and other sensors.

Built-in technology reduces development time

The new controller can be paired with Danfoss’ autonomous control library, which can help OEMs speed up the design process and time to market for their autonomous machines. Several blocks of information are included within the autonomous control library, which Danfoss has been working on for several years. These include positioning, navigation, perception and partner blocks. The various blocks can be stitched together to develop autonomous vehicle systems, which Van De Stroet said helps OEMs reduce their time to market.

Functions and features an OEM will want to integrate into its autonomous system, such as path following and obstacle avoidance, are built into these blocks. An OEM will have complete control over how they design their system and can make software updates when they choose. Van De Stroet said Danfoss’ goal is to reduce the workload for design teams 80% by including most general work functions and use cases of off-highway machines. He said this allows OEMs to focus their attention on the specific functions and features of their equipment.

The company has already put several thousand hours of research and development into the autonomous control library and will continue making further investments to advance the software to meet industry needs.

For ease of use, many of the blocks can be dragged and dropped within Danfoss’ PLUS+1 software. Each block contains the communication and controls to interact with and control components on a machine, which will then allow autonomous functionalities.

Van De Stroet said the company has also already begun development of its next controller, the XM200. It will be a more advanced controller with machine learning and vision computing capabilities. For the future, he said the company is already starting to scope its perception and vision controller. This hardware unit will enable full autonomy and vision analysis. |

DANFOSS POWER SOLUTIONS

Off-highway applications provide a solid use case for autonomy, due to the controlled environments in which most machines are used.