DIXIE Surveillance Robot

The DIXIE vehicle is based on a Honda 125 4 wheeled all terrain vehicle, and was developed as an in-house project for research in robotic vehicles. DIXIE incorporates teleoperation with advanced navigation aids to enhance a remote operator's knowledge of surrounding terrain features, and to assist a remote operator in attaining the overall view of the robot's surroundings. The system employs dead reckoning navigation and triangulation via the onboard mast mounted video camera to keep track of its position on a map displayed to the operator on the remote control console. DIXIE employs computers both onboard the vehicle and offboard in the remote control consoles for command and control.

Two separate versions of the remote control console exist, and both are quite portable. The larger of the two is approximately a 3 foot cube, and weighs ~50 pounds. This is easily transported by two persons. The other unit is much smaller, but functionally identical to the first unit. It is approximately a cubic foot in volume and weighs under 15 pounds. Both units provide video display, computer graphics map display, vehicle controls, and audio from the vehicle. DIXIE has been used for reconnaissance and exploration mission scenarios, as well as an adjunct to monitoring the TMAP vehicles while they were undergoing acceptance testing here at Sandia.