SWEEPER Remote/Autonomous Sentry

Team: Gavin Knudsen

Project

The SWEEPER Sentry Vehicle is an remote and autonomous mobile platform designed to provide real-time humanoid detection and repeatable patrol capabilities using edge-computing hardware and Ackermann steering kinematics.

Objectives:

  • Build a modular security platform that avoids the high cost of LiDAR and high-end sensors.
  • Implement real-time humanoid detection within the hardware constraints.
  • Provide repeatable autonomous patrolling using simplified trajectory-based navigation.
  • Demonstrate a stable system that integrates remote manual control and autonomous patrol.

System

System Diagram

Methods

prototype
  • Developed a ROS 2 control node to enable low-latency remote operation of the vehicle via a wireless gamepad.
  • Offloaded vision processing to a remote workstation to run the HOG detector, ensuring high-frequency humanoid identification without taxing the vehicle's CPU.
  • Designed a trajectory recording system to capture and replay motor commands, enabling repeatable autonomous patrol loops.
  • Integrated a remote monitoring dashboard to provide a live camera feed and a unified interface for manual vehicle override.

Conclusion

  • Successful Integration: Validated a low-cost autonomous sentry platform as a functional alternative to expensive commercial sensors.
  • Validated Navigation: Confirmed trajectory-based patrol as a reliable, low-compute alternative to LiDAR-based SLAM for fixed routes.
  • Distributed Architecture: Proved that offloading vision to a ground station preserves vehicle CPU for critical motor functions.
  • Technical Proficiency: Leveraged Docker for cross-platform version parity and optimized network streaming for real-time video data.
  • Future Work: Optimize detection for native edge processing and integrate vSLAM for on-the-fly path planning.
user interface