Self-driving cars used to be a concept of a future society. However, through years of research, testing, and dedication they are becoming a modern day reality. To further expand research and testing capabilities in the field of autonomous vehicles, an Autonomous Vehicle Research Platform (AVRP) can be developed. The purpose of an AVRP is to provide researchers with an autonomous ground vehicle testing platform they can outfit with sensors and equipment to meet their specific research needs. The platform will give researchers the capabilities to test algorithms, new sensors, navigation, new technologies, etc. that they believe would help advance autonomous vehicles. When their testing is done, their equipment can be removed so the next researcher can utilize the platform. The scope of this thesis is to develop the operational specifications for an AVRP that can operate at level 4 autonomy. These specifications include navigation and sensing hardware, such as LIDAR, radar, ultrasonic, cameras, and important specifications that pertain to using each, as well as a review of optimal mounting locations. It will also present benchmarks for computing, design specs for power and communication buses, and modifications for universal mounting racks. / Master of Science / A world with self-driving cars may not be as far as we think. Many ground vehicles now a days already have some sort of driver assist system(s) to aid the driver in everyday driving. Examples of these systems include cruise control that adjusts its speed to leading vehicles, or lane detection with steering assist to help keep the vehicle in its lane when the driver is briefly distracted. These smaller systems are far from allowing the vehicle to drive itself, but they do act as a small stepping stone toward fully autonomous vehicles. To further the research and exploration in the world of autonomous ground vehicles, it can be very beneficial to have a single test vehicle that can meet a variety of research needs. This is where an Autonomous Vehicle Research Platform (AVRP) would come in handy. The main goal behind an AVRP is to give researchers the ability to outfit an autonomous research platform with hardware and testing equipment they deem necessary for their research. When the researcher has completed their testing, they remove their added equipment to restore the platform to its base form for the next researcher to use. The scope of this thesis is to develop the operating specifications for an AVRP. This includes types of sensors for understanding the surrounding environment, and their optimal mounting locations, and hardware for positioning and navigating within that environment. It also discusses power estimation for powering the needed hardware and systems, computing benchmarks from other autonomous research platforms, and a communication structure for the AVRP.

Sea ice in the Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) plays a pivotal role in regulating heat and energy exchange between oceanic and atmospheric systems, which drive global climate. Current understanding of Southern Ocean sea ice dynamics is poor with temporal and spatial gaps in critical seasonal data-sets. The lack of in situ environmental and wave data from the MIZ in the Antarctic region drove the development of UCT's first generation of in situ ice-tethered measurement platform as part of a larger UCT and NRF SANAP project on realistic modelling of the Marginal Ice Zone in the changing Southern Ocean (MISO). This thesis focuses on the firmware development for the device and the design process taken to obtain key measurements for understanding sea ice dynamics and increasing sensing capabilities in the Southern Ocean. The buoy was required to survive the Antarctic climate and contained a global positioning system, temperature sensor, digital barometer and inertial measurement unit to measure waves-in-ice. Power was supplied to the device by a power supply unit consisting of commercial-grade batteries in series with a temperature-resistant low dropout regulator, and a power sensor to monitor the module. A satellite modem transmitted data through the Iridium satellite network. Finally, Flash chips provided permanent data storage. Firmware and peripheral driver files were written in C for an STMicroelectronics STM32L4 Arm-based microcontroller. To optimise the firmware for low power consumption, inactive sensors were placed in power-saving mode and the processor was put to sleep during periods of no sampling activity. The first device deployment took place during the SCALE winter expedition in July 2019. Two devices were deployed on ice floes to test their performance in remote conditions. However, due to mechanical and power errors, the devices failed shortly after deployment. A third device was placed on the deck of SA Aghulas II during the expedition and successfully survived for one week while continuously transmitting GPS coordinates and ambient temperature. The second generation featured subsequent improvements to the mechanical robustness and sensing capabilities of the device. However, due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, subsequent Antarctic expeditions were cancelled resulting in the final platform evaluation taking place on land. The device demonstrates a proof of concept for a low-cost, ice-tethered autonomous sensing device. However, additional improvements are required to overcome severe bandwidth and power constraints.