An Intent-Based Reasoning System for Automatic Generation of Drone Missions for Public Protection and Disaster Relief

The utilization of drones for search and rescue operations has become more prevalent over the years. Drones can provide an aerial perspective which can aid first responders in gaining an overview of a situation. Autonomous drones can automate search and rescue operations by removing the human pilot, which can increase efficiency and lower costs. The increased development of machine learning models and techniques has paved the way for intent-based reasoning systems that can understand users' intent. This can allow users to control autonomous drones by expressing their intent. Which can be utilized for search and rescue operations. However, machine learning models require vast computational power and data storage. In addition, autonomous drones have high-performance requirements. The development of 5G can provide the infrastructure required to meet the stringent performance requirements of machine learning models and autonomous drones. By leveraging the advanced features of 5G, such as network slicing, high-speed communication, and low latency, it provides the infrastructure that supports the use of machine learning models in coordination with drones. This thesis proposes a system prototype that can generate drone missions based on user intent which can be used for rescue operations. The system utilizes a large language model and automatic speech recognition model to capture the intent of the user and generate drone missions that integrate with a 4G-enabled drone. The evaluation of the system reveals that the system can reliably capture the user's intent with simple commands, but struggles with more complex commands. The prototype demonstrates that intent-based reasoning systems for controlling autonomous drones using 5G technology can aid first responders during PPDR missions

StratoTrans : Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) 4G communication framework applied on the monitoring of road traffic and linear infrastructure

This study provides an operational solution to directly connect drones to internet by means of 4G telecommunications and exploit drone acquired data, including telemetry and imagery but focusing on video transmission. The novelty of this work is the application of 4G connection to link the drone directly to a data server where video (in this case to monitor road traffic) and imagery (in the case of linear infrastructures) are processed. However, this framework is appliable to any other monitoring purpose where the goal is to send real-time video or imagery to the headquarters where the drone data is processed, analyzed, and exploited. We describe a general framework and analyze some key points, such as the hardware to use, the data stream, and the network coverage, but also the complete resulting implementation of the applied unmanned aerial system (UAS) communication system through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) featuring a long-range telemetry high-capacity video link (up to 15 Mbps, 720 p video at 30 fps with 250 ms of latency). The application results in the real-time exploitation of the video, obtaining key information for traffic managers such as vehicle tracking, vehicle classification, speed estimation, and roundabout in-out matrices. The imagery downloads and storage is also performed thorough internet, although the Structure from Motion postprocessing is not real-time due to photogrammetric workflows. In conclusion, we describe a real-case application of drone connection to internet thorough 4G network, but it can be adapted to other applications. Although 5G will -in time- surpass 4G capacities, the described framework can enhance drone performance and facilitate paths for upgrading the connection of on-board devices to the 5G network

Involuntary Signal-Based Grounding of Civilian Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in Civilian Airspace

This thesis investigates the involuntary signal-based grounding of civilian unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in unauthorized air spaces. The technique proposed here will forcibly land unauthorized UAS in a given area in such a way that the UAS will not be harmed, and the pilot cannot stop the landing. The technique will not involuntarily ground authorized drones which will be determined prior to the landing. Unauthorized airspaces include military bases, university campuses, areas affected by a natural disaster, and stadiums for public events. This thesis proposes an early prototype of a hardware-based signal based involuntary grounding technique to handle the problem by immediately grounding unauthorized drones. Research in the development of UAS is in the direction of airspace integration. For the potential of airspace integration three communication protocols were evaluated: LoRa WAN, Bluetooth 5, and Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) for their long range capabilities. Of the three technologies, LoRa WAN transmitted the farthest, however the FSK module transmitted a comparable distance at a lower power. The power measurements were taken using existing modules, however, due to LoRa using a higher frequency than the FSK module this outcome was expected

Multi-frequency backhaul analysis for UABS in disaster situations

When a disaster occurs, the land-based cellular network could go offline for some days. Using an Unmanned Aerial Base Station (UABS) network is a promising solution to serve unconnected ground users. In this article, we propose a multifrequency backhaul architecture, which considers power and capacity constraints, to support the UABS network in a realistic 3D scenario in the city of Ghent, Belgium. Simulations results show that at the optimal flight height (80 m), up to 87% of the users could be supported using the multifrequency scenario compared with single frequency scenarios where coverage is about 70%

Software platform to control squads of unmanned vehicles in realtime

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) applications are becoming more and more researched. “Drones” (UAVs) were mainly used as a military technology but are now becoming a leisure and professional activity for many civilian users. Nowadays UAVs are mostly controlled by the use of a controller that operates in Radio Control (RC), although this method of communication limits the vehicle’s distance to the line of sight of the operator. As a need to overcome the line of sight obstacle, cellular networks provide a mean of connection and as the coverage is increasing they’re a natural solution as Wi-Fi is not present everywhere. In order to accomplish this communication between Drone and Operator, there needs to be a Ground Control Station that provides the user all the tools needed to operate the vehicle. This project provides a software platform that is able to monitor a squad of drones whilst also being able to control one at a time. The platform maintains the communication with the vehicle at all times, and is also be able to receive live-video in order to overcome the beyond line of sight obstacle. Besides this, the application provides an admin user, with the capability of overriding a regular user’s control, assigning the user’s drone to itself for controlling purposes. A public server is used to make the exchanging of messages possible, and to have a centralized control over drones and their respective user. Keywords:Os Veículos Aéreos Não Tripulados (UAVs) são cada vez mais utilizados e desenvolvidos. O que antes era utilizado principalmente como tecnologia militar, tem-se vindo a tornar uma profissão ou um hobbie para muitos civis. Hoje em dia os UAVs são controlados geralmente através de um comando, que opera em Radio Controlo (RC) e, embora seja muito utilizado, este método de comunicação limita a distância do veículo à linha de visão do operador. Este é um obstáculo que se tem procurado ultrapassar e as redes móveis providenciam o meio necessário para tal. Desta forma e como a cobertura das redes móveis tem aumentado progressivamente é hoje em dia uma alternativa ao Wi-Fi que não tem o mesmo alcance nem a mesma cobertura. Para que a comunicação entre drone e operador seja viável, tem que existir uma estação de controlo que forneça ao utilizador todas as ferramentas necessárias para operar o veículo. Este projeto visa a criação de uma plataforma de software que seja capaz de monitorizar uma esquadra de UAVs e seja também capaz de controlar um aparelho de cada vez. A plataforma mantém a comunicação com o veículo em todos os momentos, e permite ainda a receção de vídeo ao vivo, superando assim o obstáculo da linha de vista. Também é disponibilizada a um administrador a capacidade de retirar o controlo dos utilizadores aos seus drones alterando assim o responsável pelo controlo. É também utilizado um servidor público de forma a tornar a troca de mensagens possível e também por outro lado, controlar de forma centralizada os drones e os seus respetivos utilizadores. Palavras-chave: Monitorização, Controlo Remoto, Redes Sem fios, Aplicação, Drone

Planning UAV Activities for Efficient User Coverage in Disaster Areas

Climate changes brought about by global warming as well as man-made environmental changes are often the cause of sever natural disasters. ICT, which is itself responsible for global warming due to its high carbon footprint, can play a role in alleviating the consequences of such hazards by providing reliable, resilient means of communication during a disaster crisis. In this paper, we explore the provision of wireless coverage through UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) to complement, or replace, the traditional communication infrastructure. The use of UAVs is indeed crucial in emergency scenarios, as they allow for the quick and easy deployment of micro and pico cellular base stations where needed. We characterize the movements of UAVs and define an optimization problem to determine the best UAV coverage that maximizes the user throughput, while maintaining fairness across the different parts of the geographical area that has been affected by the disaster. To evaluate our strategy, we simulate a flooding in San Francisco and the car traffic resulting from people seeking safety on higher ground

Reliable and Secure Drone-assisted MillimeterWave Communications

The next generation of mobile networks and wireless communication, including the fifth-generation (5G) and beyond, will provide a high data rate as one of its fundamental requirements. Providing high data rates can be accomplished through communication over high-frequency bands such as the Millimeter-Wave(mmWave) one. However, mmWave communication experiences short-range communication, which impacts the overall network connectivity. Improving network connectivity can be accomplished through deploying Unmanned Ariel Vehicles(UAVs), commonly known as drones, which serve as aerial small-cell base stations. Moreover, drone deployment is of special interest in recovering network connectivity in the aftermath of disasters. Despite the potential advantages, drone-assisted networks can be more vulnerable to security attacks, given their limited capabilities. This security vulnerability is especially true in the aftermath of a disaster where security measures could be at their lowest. This thesis focuses on drone-assisted mmWave communication networks with their potential to provide reliable communication in terms of higher network connectivity measures, higher total network data rate, and lower end-to-end delay. Equally important, this thesis focuses on proposing and developing security measures needed for drone-assisted networks’ secure operation. More specifically, we aim to employ a swarm of drones to have more connection, reliability, and secure communication over the mmWave band. Finally, we target both the cellular 5Gnetwork and Ad hoc IEEE802.11ad/ay in typical network deployments as well as in post-disaster circumstances

A Survey on Cellular-connected UAVs: Design Challenges, Enabling 5G/B5G Innovations, and Experimental Advancements

As an emerging field of aerial robotics, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have gained significant research interest within the wireless networking research community. As soon as national legislations allow UAVs to fly autonomously, we will see swarms of UAV populating the sky of our smart cities to accomplish different missions: parcel delivery, infrastructure monitoring, event filming, surveillance, tracking, etc. The UAV ecosystem can benefit from existing 5G/B5G cellular networks, which can be exploited in different ways to enhance UAV communications. Because of the inherent characteristics of UAV pertaining to flexible mobility in 3D space, autonomous operation and intelligent placement, these smart devices cater to wide range of wireless applications and use cases. This work aims at presenting an in-depth exploration of integration synergies between 5G/B5G cellular systems and UAV technology, where the UAV is integrated as a new aerial User Equipment (UE) to existing cellular networks. In this integration, the UAVs perform the role of flying users within cellular coverage, thus they are termed as cellular-connected UAVs (a.k.a. UAV-UE, drone-UE, 5G-connected drone, or aerial user). The main focus of this work is to present an extensive study of integration challenges along with key 5G/B5G technological innovations and ongoing efforts in design prototyping and field trials corroborating cellular-connected UAVs. This study highlights recent progress updates with respect to 3GPP standardization and emphasizes socio-economic concerns that must be accounted before successful adoption of this promising technology. Various open problems paving the path to future research opportunities are also discussed.Comment: 30 pages, 18 figures, 9 tables, 102 references, journal submissio

An Experimental Analysis on Drone-Mounted Access Points for Improved Latency-Reliability

The anticipated densification of contemporary communications infrastructure expects the use of drone small cells (DSCs). Thus, we experimentally evaluate the capability of providing local and personalized coverage with a drone mounted Wi-Fi access point that uses the nearby LTE infrastructure as a backhaul in areas with mixed line of sight(LoS) and Non-LoS (NLoS) links to the local cellular infrastructure. To assess the potential of DSCs for reliable and low latency communication of outdoor users, we measure the channel quality and the total round trip latency of the system. For a drone following the ground user, the DSC-provided network extends the coverage for an extra 6.4% when compared to the classical LTE-direct link. Moreover, the DSC setup provides latencies that are consistently smaller than 50 msfor 95% of the experiment. Within the coverage of the LTE-direct connection, we observed a latency ceiling of 120ms for 95% reliability of the LTE-direct connection. The highest latency observed for the DSC system was 1200ms, while the LTE-direct link never exceeded 500 ms. As such, DSC setups are not only essential in NLoS situations, but consistently improve the latency of users in outdoor scenarios.Comment: To be published in proceedings of DroNet21. Winner of DroNet21's Best Paper Awar