Joint Chilean and US Mobility Testing in Extreme Environments

Vehicle mobility in cold and challenging terrains is of interest to both the US and Chilean Armies. Mobility in winter conditions is highly vehicle dependent with autonomous vehicles experiencing additional challenges over manned vehicles. They lack the ability to make informed decisions based on what they are “seeing” and instead need to rely on input from sensors on the vehicle, or from Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) or satellite data collections. This work focuses on onboard vehicle Controller Area Network (CAN) Bus sensors, driver input sensors, and some externally mounted sensors to assist with terrain identification and overall vehicle mobility. Analysis of winter vehicle/sensor data collected in collaboration with the Chilean Army in Lonquimay, Chile during July and August 2019 will be discussed in this report.