Improving the Safety of Slow-Moving Autonomous Vehicles When Transporting Dangerous Goods Using GNSS-Based Control Systems

This article discusses the safety issues of autonomous vehicles using GNSS when transporting particularly dangerous goods, such as flammable and explosive materials. A method for the special processing of GNSS navigation information is presented, which consists of collecting readings of the relative navigation positions of the vehicle. The novelty of the method lies in the substantiation of the refusal to use a standard speedometer and the study of the minimum permissible vehicle speed, measured exclusively on the basis of the results of processing GNSS data. To confirm the assumptions inherent in the described method, a physical experiment was carried out, the results of which showed that the accuracy of the speedometers of standard vehicles is insufficient to ensure sufficient safety if the required driving speed should not exceed several km/h. The methodological basis for conducting a physical experiment is to measure the sequence of calculations of the coordinates {Xi, Yi}(t), i = 1, 2, … of the vehicle, continuously calculate the vehicle speed in km/h, and use a speed limiting device set to a certain permissible technical state for the transportation of especially dangerous goods.