Canadian Centre for Field Robotics (CCFR)

York University, Toronto, Ontario
What the facility does

Research in robot systems that operate in complex (outdoor) environments

Areas of expertise

The Canadian Centre for Field Robotics (CCFR) provides a unique testing environment for research in field robotics. Located in Metro Toronto, the CCFR has access to the wide range of resources available in the city while, at the same time, providing a number of real test sites for research in field (outdoor) robotics. Test areas include planetary surface simulation, indoor (pool) and outdoor water bodies and a large-scale terrestrial testing facility with wooded and grass-covered areas surrounding a large pond. Research projects are supported by a fully equipped robot laboratory and two testing support buildings located within the test area. A number of robot systems are deployed within the CCFR, including large- and medium-scale ground contact robots, aquatic robots and quadrotor platforms.

Research services

Robot system design and testing, sensor design and control

Sectors of application
  • Defence and security industries
  • Energy (renewable and fossil)
  • Forestry and forest-based industries
  • Mining, minerals and metals
  • Utilities

Specialized lab

Equipment

Function

Ground Contact Robots

Grizzly platform and Pioneer platform

Large- and medium-scale skid-steer terrestrial robots equipped with laser and stereo camera sensors

Autonomous Surface Vehicles

Eddy and the Minnow robot fleets

Medium- and small-scale autonomous surface vessels equipped with GPS and camera systems

Amphibious Robot

KROY AQUA platform

Amphibious hexapod

Quadrotor Facility

Quadrotor fleet

Fleet of five indoor quadrotors

Robot Research Lab

VGR laboratory

Robot research support facility at grade with direct access to the terrestrial testing facility

Terrestrial Testing Facility

Extended outdoor testing environment

Large-scale testing facility with support structures; differential GPS and wireless internet coverage

Surface Testing Facility

Stong Pond

Large pond with support for surface robot experiments

Pool Testing Facility

Tait Mackenzie Pool

Indoor pool with viewing gallery and surface wireless network

Planetary Surface Testbed

Planetary Surface Testbed

Indoor simulation of planetary surface
  • NSERC Canadian Field Robotics Network
  • MDA Corporation
  • Canadian Space Agency
Title
URL
Tsotsos Lab for Active and Attentive Vision
Deployment of Grizzly platform for pipe inspection test
Test of Eddy robot in Tait Mackenzie Pool
Deployment of Eddy to Stong Pond
Testing of Minnow robot fleet in Barbados
Testing of KROY in Barbados