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a robot called the Stanford Cart. This took a similar form to
the JPL Laser Rangefinder by 1979 (Moravec 1983; Gage 1995).
When Moravec moved to CMU in 1981, his work became the
reference point for a smaller system called the CMU Rover
(Moravec 1983). It also laid the groundwork for the CMU
NavLab created in 1984 (Thorpe et al. 1987). This university-
based laboratory was dedicated to developing semiautono-
mous and autonomous vehicles using computer vision. PS la-
ser scanners sold as survey tools—from Quantapoint (formerly
K2T) and Zoller and Fröhlich (Z+F)—were developed because
of NavLab-led initiatives, such as the Franklin scanner (Han-
cock et al. 1998a; K2T 1998). There was also a connection to
European efforts, such as the Eureka PROMETHEUS Project,
through Dirk Langer. He helped develop the laser module for
the Franklin scanner, and brought Christoph Fröhlich to CMU
to collaborate because of the laser module he had designed
in Germany. The PROMETHEUS Project was the largest research
and development project for self-driving cars, running from
1987 to 1995; Langer worked on ultrasonic sensors for it,
which was the groundwork for his coming to CMU. Both the
Franklin and PROMETHEUS projects marked a collaborative
effort between universities and businesses. Car manufacturer's
were amongst the companies interested in the technology.
The JPL Laser Rangefinder was soon followed by a PS
system funded by DARPA (Gleichman et al. 1988; Gage 1995;
Roland and Shiman 2002; Nilsson 2010). It was built by ERIM,
which had worked with the Bendix Corporation, an American
manufacturing and engineering company, to develop Lunar
Surface Experiments Packages for NASA as part of the Apollo
missions (Latham et al. 1969; Hartman 1992). ERIM had also
worked extensively on multispectral scanning systems in
satellites (Polcyn, Lyzenga and Marinello 1977). This work
included tracking the exact distance to a point on the moon’s
surface to within a few inches using modulated lasers (Knock-
eart and Wilkinson 1975; Wolfe and Zissis 1978).
The ERIM sensor was built for the ASV in 1982 (Gleichman
et al. 1988; Gage 1995; Roland and Shiman 2002; Nilsson
2010). As seen in Figure 2, the ASV was a six-legged all-terrain
vehicle, which used the same alternating tripod movement
seen in insects (Waldron and McGhee 1986; Song and Wal-
dron 1989). The ASV came out of a collaboration between Bat-
telle Columbus Laboratories and Ohio State University, with
the ERIM sensor forming part of its navigation system (Zuk and
Dell’Eva 1983; Patterson et al. 1984; Waldron and McGhee
1986; Gleichman et al. 1988). It was designed to be deployed
in environments unsuitable for wheeled vehicles and con-
sidered too dangerous to go through on foot (Patterson et al.
1984; Waldron and McGhee 1986).
The ASV project was part of a long-term strategy that
emerged from US military-funded research, which was di-
rected by an advisory board made up of artificial-intelligence
specialists from academia and industry (Stefik 1985; Roland
and Shiman 2002). It explored the use of autonomous vehicles
for direct combat as well as search and rescue (Patterson et al.
1984). It also led to ERIM being chosen for the 1984–1988 ALV
program (Gleichman et al. 1988). It was this project that dem-
onstrated that PS systems were becoming a viable means of 3D
data acquisition. The ALV program also formed part of a broader
Strategic Computing Initiative program in digital technologies,
which ran from 1983 to 1993 (Roland and Shiman 2002).
Autonomous Land Vehicle
Work began on the ALV project in September 1984, using the
experimental ERIM sensor seen in the guidance system for
the six-legged ASV (Gleichman et al. 1988). It can be seen in
Figure 3, which shows an illustration of the ALV from Popular
Science (Schefter 1985). The sensor was retrofitted to correct
known deficiencies, then mounted to a vehicle and sent out to
map the DARPA-Martin Marietta ALV test site in Denver, Colo.
It was the first of four data-capture missions that provided
information to the contractors: CMU, Martin Marietta Aero-
space, and Sandia National Laboratories. Each played a key
role in future midrange TLS developments by refining both the
hardware and the software (Zuk et al. 1985; Beyer, Jacobus
and Pont 1987; Everett 1995).
Figure 3. The Autonomous Land Vehicle project introduced
several new participants to laser scanning because of the
Environmental Research Institute of Michigan sensor. It also
brought Takeo Kanade, Pradeep Khosla, and Chuck Thorpe
together—through two separate projects managed by Clint
Kelly III. The three would later go on to form K 2T together at
Carnegie Mellon University and release the Franklin scanner
as a commercial product. Christoph Fröhlich would also go on
to create the Zoller and Fröhlich range of phase shift scanners
after working on the Franklin. (Illustration by Ray Pioch.
Reproduced by permission from John Schefter, “Look, Ma! No
Driver,” Popular Science 227: PP. © 1985 by Ray Pioch.)
Figure 2. The Adaptive Suspension Vehicle was developed
via a collaboration between Battelle Columbus Laboratories
and Ohio State University. It used an insect-inspired leg
system to navigate terrain. Its vision system also included a
laser scanner from the Environmental Research Institute of
Michigan (Hoggett 2010).
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