Opportunistic communication schemes for unmanned vehicles in urban search and rescue

In urban search and rescue (USAR) operations, there is a considerable amount of danger faced by rescuers. The use of mobile robots can alleviate this issue. Coordinating the search effort is made more difficult by the communication issues typically faced in these environments, such that communication is often restricted. With small numbers of robots, it is necessary to break communication links in order to explore the entire environment. The robots can be viewed as a broken ad hoc network, relying on opportunistic contact in order to share data. In order to minimise overheads when exchanging data, a novel algorithm for data exchange has been created which maintains the propagation speed of flooding while reducing overheads. Since the rescue workers outside of the structure need to know the location of any victims, the task of finding their locations is two parted: 1) to locate the victims (Search Time), and 2) to get this data outside the structure (Delay Time). Communication with the outside is assumed to be performed by a static robot designated as the Command Station. Since it is unlikely that there will be sufficient robots to provide full communications coverage of the area, robots that discover victims are faced with the difficult decision of whether they should continue searching or return with the victim data. We investigate a variety of search techniques and see how the application of biological foraging models can help to streamline the search process, while we have also implemented an opportunistic network to ensure that data are shared whenever robots come within line of sight of each other or the Command Station. We examine this trade-off between performing a search and communicating the results

Team-level programming of drone sensor networks

Autonomous drones are a powerful new breed of mobile sensing platform that can greatly extend the capabilities of traditional sensing systems. Unfortunately, it is still non-trivial to coordinate multiple drones to perform a task collaboratively. We present a novel programming model called team-level programming that can express collaborative sensing tasks without exposing the complexity of managing multiple drones, such as concurrent programming, parallel execution, scaling, and failure recovering. We create the Voltron programming system to explore the concept of team-level programming in active sensing applications. Voltron offers programming constructs to create the illusion of a simple sequential execution model while still maximizing opportunities to dynamically re-task the drones as needed. We implement Voltron by targeting a popular aerial drone platform, and evaluate the resulting system using a combination of real deployments, user studies, and emulation. Our results indicate that Voltron enables simpler code and produces marginal overhead in terms of CPU, memory, and network utilization. In addition, it greatly facilitates implementing correct and complete collaborative drone applications, compared to existing drone programming systems

A Localized Autonomous Control Algorithm For Robots With Heterogeneous Capabilities In A Multi-Tier Architecture

This dissertation makes two contributions to the use of the Blackboard Architecture for command. The use of boundary nodes for data abstraction is introduced and the use of a solver-based blackboard system with pruning is proposed. It also makes contributions advancing the engineering design process in the area of command system selection for heterogeneous robotic systems. It presents and analyzes data informing decision making between centralized and distributed command systems and also characterizes the efficacy of pruning across different experimental scenarios, demonstrating when it is effective or not. Finally, it demonstrates the operations of the system, raising the technology readiness level (TRL) of the technology towards a level suitable for actual mission use. The context for this work is a multi-tier mission architecture, based on prior work by Fink on a “tier scalable” architecture. This work took a top-down approach where the superior tiers (in terms of scope of visibility) send specific commands to craft in lower tiers. While benefitting from the use of a large centralized processing center, this approach is limited in responding to failures and interference. The work presented herein has involved developing and comparatively characterizing centralized and decentralized (where superior nodes provide information and goals to the lower-level craft, but decisions are made locally) Blackboard Architecture based command systems. Blackboard Architecture advancements (a solver, pruning, boundary nodes) have been made and tested under multiple experimental conditions

Road safety management capacity review

Introduction Study Context Following on from the government’s manifesto to an annual reduction in road deaths and injuries, the British Road Safety Statement 2015 (BRSS) set out the government’s commitment to invest further in continuing road safety activity, and to conduct a Road Safety Management Capacity Review (RSMCR). A RSMCR is a strategic assessment, benchmarking and capacity building tool, originally developed by the World Bank's Global Road Safety Facility, to guide investments and assist countries in strengthening road safety management. It is recommended for use by the OECD/International Transport Forum and the World Road Association as a first step in further developing and extending effective Safe System investment strategies, plans and projects in all countries and contexts. In May 2017, the DfT commissioned a RSMCR to benchmark and understand the current status of institutional delivery of road safety in Britain, and to identify practical and actionable opportunities for strengthening joint working, local innovation, and efficiency on a national and local basis. Safe System The overarching theme of the BRSS is the government’s adoption of the recommended Safe System approach to preventing death and serious injuries in road collisions. Its application is cited as a key national priority in the UK. While building on current practice, some re-alignment in national road safety focus and activity will be necessary over time. Safe System implementation towards zero deaths and serious injuries is a long-term project and is in different stages of development in different countries and jurisdictions. Safe System comprises both an explicit goal and strategy. The long-term Safe System goal is for the ultimate prevention of deaths and serious injuries, through incremental targeted improvements within a specified safety performance framework. The Safe System strategy aims for a more forgiving road system that takes human fallibility and vulnerability into account. The road traffic system is planned, designed, operated and used such that people are protected from death and serious injury in road collisions. Aims and Objectives of the Review The overarching aim of the RSMCR is to identify practical and actionable opportunities for strengthening joint working, local innovation, and efficiency on a national and local basis. In particular the RSMCR seeks to understand the current status of institutional delivery of road safety in Britain by: Examining national, regional and local structures, responsibilities, accountabilities, relationships and coordination; Examining whether management effort and resources at all levels are being targeted effectively at designing, and enabling or delivering evidence-based interventions and initiatives that can have the greatest impact in preventing and reducing the number of road users killed and seriously injured; Assessing the current road safety delivery landscape against the Safe System road safety management assessment framework and determining whether there is an imbalance in resource effort for each element and at each level (national, regional and local); Investigating how institutional capacity can be cost-effectively strengthened, within the context of the BRSS, to deliver a Safe System approach to road safety; and Identifying areas and means for improved joint working, local innovation and efficiency

Coordination in temporary organizations:formal and informal mechanisms at the 2016 Olympics

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore intra-firm coordination in temporary organizations (TOs). Specifically, it identifies and explains how operational coordination evolves over time in a particular TO: the 2016 Olympic Games Organizing Committee. Design/methodology/approach This is an immersive case study based on qualitative analysis and longitudinal fieldwork, which allowed the observation of operational coordination in real time. The main sources of data are participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and internal documents of the TO. Findings The findings suggest that operational coordination in TOs dealing with multiple and decentralized operations takes place through the combination of both formal and informal coordination mechanisms. Further analysis indicates a contingency logic in using these mechanisms, shaped by the presence of specific coordination challenges in different phases of work. Three main aspects influencing coordination are explored. First, it is suggested that TOs are inherently “hybrid.” That is, they comprise enduring as well as temporary and centralized as well as decentralized elements. These elements change over time. Second, a formal transition phase is explored: “venueization” – a phase between planning and operation in which centralized structural elements and processes are translated to operational units. Third, since TOs present emergence and dynamism, and related challenges across various phases of work, coordination is arguably contingent on the phase of the project. Research limitations/implications Although the findings are limited to a particular empirical context, this paper offers theoretically new insights concerning the hybrid nature of processes in TOs, the contingent use of complementary coordination mechanisms, and the importance of the venueization phase, and provides a basis for future research into operational coordination in TOs. Practical implications The findings can help practitioners understand and identify the challenges embedded in temporary contexts and develop coordination strategies accordingly. Originality/value This study explains how operational coordination takes place in TOs enabled by formal and informal mechanisms, which are contingently combined over time through particular coordination strategies