Joint Architecture for Unmanned Ground Systems (JAUGS) Applied to Autonomous Agricultural Vehicles

Autonomous technology is being developed in many industries and a common architecture is the key to maximizing the benefit of these efforts. As stated in the Joint Architecture for Unmanned Ground Systems (JAUGS) Domain Model, “To effectively support all Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) systems, JAUGS must meet the following constraints: (1) Vehicle platform independence, (2) Mission independence/isolation, (3) Computer hardware independence, (4) Technology independence.” These four pillars of design make JAUGS an attractive foundation for automated architectures in any industry. Since the design is independent of the application, automated system developers can leverage the vast array of technology being developed by and for the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and the Department of Justice. JAUGS is an evolving standard sponsored by the DOD Joint Robotics Project (JRP) and industry participation is encouraged in the working groups with ISO certification as the eventual target. The direct applicability of this standard in agriculture will be discussed along with the results of a successful implementation. Automated systems have a great deal of commonality and a standard like JAUGS provides a conduit for sharing both hardware and software solutions across all platforms and applications.