TARKKA
Obstacle Detection and Tracking Software Built to Excel in Outdoor Environments, 24/7
In unpredictable environments where heavy equipment and outdoor vehicles usually operate, staying focused and keeping one’s eyes open for 10 hours straight has been a true challenge for all human operators. Likewise, traditional obstacle detection systems for AGVs and AMRs are often built on 2D lidars and have well-known problems with limited range, slopes, snowfall, and tracking fast-moving vehicles. These limitations slow down the adaptation of automation for outdoor machinery and increase the risk of accidents.
TARKKA is a perception software product designed to overcome these challenges. Our technology is built from the ground up with harsh outdoor conditions in mind. TARKKA provides obstacle detection, classification, and tracking for various industries such as intralogistics in industrial areas and container terminals, construction and mining, and railway traffic, just to name a few.
SAFETY ISSUES
We help our customers build a strong industry-specific Safety Case, by providing evidence and helping with architecture, requirements analysis and hazard analysis. We are following industry standards such as STPA (Systems-Theoretic Process Analysis) for hazard analysis and ANSI/UL 4600 for building a safety case. Currently, we recommend using TARKKA as an assistive system in areas where bypassers are present. Autonomous operation is only recommended in closed or restricted industrial environments, such as logistics hubs, ports, and factories.
SUPPORTING SERVICES
We help you with the complete lifecycle of your obstacle detection needs, including:
- System design
- Sensor selection
- Rapid prototyping
- Hazard analysis
- Implementing custom software modules
- Software integration with your systems
- Building an automatic test process to ensure the quality and safety of your product
- Support during commissioning and long-term maintenance
REQUIREMENTS
3D Lidar: TARKKA has been tested with most of the major 3D lidar vendors including, for example, Ouster, Hesai, Robosense and Livox – but in practice we work with any high-resolution 3D lidars that have a ROS data interface. We help you to select the right lidar model based on your price, range, Field of view (FOV) and accuracy requirements.
Positioning source: TARKKA needs a highly precise positioning system, so we’d recommend pairing it up with PAIKKA. But if you already have a solution for positioning, you can use your own as well. Software integration is done using ROS standard interfaces for pose data.
Computer: Our software is lightweight, so a mid-tier industrial PC with 6 logical cores is usually sufficient. ARM64 architecture is also supported. No GPU is needed.
FEATURES
- Free space detection: based on your vehicle’s dimensions and the planned path ahead, we calculate what is the minimum space required for moving safely forward.
- Object detection: we detect things that are in the way, even if it’s something never seen before. Compared to camera-based solutions, our solution is not affected by lighting conditions, offering consistent reliability 24/7. A typical detection range is 50 meters for pedestrians and 100 meters for vehicles.
- Object classification: each detected object may also be classified. We tailor classification models for each customer specifically.
- Object tracking: we measure the velocity and assign unique IDs for detected objects, so we know where every object is heading. This allows short-term prediction, to move safely close to other dynamic objects without slowing down too soon or too late.
- Error diagnostics using standard ROS (Robot Operating System) interfaces: in cases such as sensor failures or software issues, we will let your system manager know it within a second.
Our software operates seamlessly on road-like surfaces, tolerating slopes and rough terrains better than 2D lidar systems. For off-road applications (e.g., forestry, defense, and marine) we offer customized solutions tailored to your specific needs.