Towards 3D Autonomy: Developing an Affordable and Scalable Autonomous Car-Like Robot

Developing autonomous mobile robot systems requires complex software and expensive hardware, posing significant challenges for students and researchers who must dedicate substantial effort to system integration. This study presents a 3D-scaled autonomous robot design capable of executing cutting-edge studies in indoor and outdoor surroundings. The approach uses affordable, off-the-shelf mechanical, electrical, and software ingredients. By leveraging commercially standard and cost-effective materials, the proposed technique fulfills developing requirements and scalable autonomy in 3D dynamic and terrain environments, offering high accuracy and reliability for tasks such as localization and mapping, perception, exploration, and control. This framework aims to reduce the barriers to entry for autonomous robotics research and applications by prioritizing accessibility and relaxation of use. Researchers and developers can implement sophisticated techniques without costly, custombuilt hardware and software efforts. Currently in its initial stages, the design has been validated through several experimental trials. The framework has been open-sourced, with updates and future developments scheduled to benefit the broader robotics community.