Aerial Terrain Analysis to Assist Off-Road Ground Vehicle Traversability Estimation

Background

Autonomous off-road vehicles must navigate through environments that are initially unknown. Onboard sensors can provide detailed information about the terrain immediately surrounding the vehicle, allowing a local traversability map to be built and used for short-range navigation. However, local perception provides only limited information about the larger terrain structure ahead. A route that initially appears traversable may lead towards a dead end, a cliff, an impassable terrain region, or an area hidden from the vehicle's sensors by larger obstacles. A drone observing the environment from above can provide complementary terrain information over a considerably larger area and from a fundamentally different viewpoint.

The Project

The objective of this thesis is to investigate how aerial sensor data can be used to estimate terrain traversability in support of an off-road ground vehicle. The work will focus on the aerial part of the problem: acquiring and processing terrain data from a drone, generating a terrain representation from the aerial viewpoint, and estimating a coarse traversability map that can provide information beyond the sensing range or field of view of the ground vehicle. The project includes investigating suitable representations and methods for aerial terrain analysis and evaluating their ability to identify terrain structures relevant to ground vehicle navigation. The resulting system will be evaluated using representative off-road environments and data collected with a drone.

Who We Are Looking For

We are looking for a Master's student in Robotics, Computer Science, Machine Learning, Mechatronics, Engineering, or a related field. You should have an interest in robotics, autonomous systems and perception and enjoy combining research-oriented work with practical implementation.
Experience with one or more areas such as C++, Python, ROS, computer vision, machine learning, point clouds or sensor data processing is advantageous.

What We Offer

At Retenua, you will work at the intersection of research and industrial application, on technology used in real-world robotic and autonomous systems. Our projects are closely connected to current developments in perception, sensing and mobile robotics, giving you the opportunity to work on problems where the solutions are not already predetermined. As a small and technically focused team, we offer a high degree of independence and the opportunity to take real ownership of your work. You will work with relevant software, sensor data and hardware, and develop and evaluate your ideas in a practical engineering context. 

About Retenua

Retenua is a Swedish technology company specializing in advanced perception and mobile robotics. We develop software components for autonomous machines and robots and work with industrial customers on challenging problems involving sensing, perception, localization, navigation and machine intelligence. 

Practical Information

Scope: Master’s thesis, 30 hp
Period: Spring 2027
Location: Örebro/hybrid. A substantial part of the project can be carried out remotely, while meetings, experiments and work involving hardware may require occasional presence in Örebro.
Students: 1-2 students
Application: Please submit your CV, transcript of records and a short description of your interest in the project.