Adoption of vehicular ad hoc networking protocols by networked robots

This paper focuses on the utilization of wireless networking in the robotics domain. Many researchers have already equipped their robots with wireless communication capabilities, stimulated by the observation that multi-robot systems tend to have several advantages over their single-robot counterparts. Typically, this integration of wireless communication is tackled in a quite pragmatic manner, only a few authors presented novel Robotic Ad Hoc Network (RANET) protocols that were designed specifically with robotic use cases in mind. This is in sharp contrast with the domain of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET). This observation is the starting point of this paper. If the results of previous efforts focusing on VANET protocols could be reused in the RANET domain, this could lead to rapid progress in the field of networked robots. To investigate this possibility, this paper provides a thorough overview of the related work in the domain of robotic and vehicular ad hoc networks. Based on this information, an exhaustive list of requirements is defined for both types. It is concluded that the most significant difference lies in the fact that VANET protocols are oriented towards low throughput messaging, while RANET protocols have to support high throughput media streaming as well. Although not always with equal importance, all other defined requirements are valid for both protocols. This leads to the conclusion that cross-fertilization between them is an appealing approach for future RANET research. To support such developments, this paper concludes with the definition of an appropriate working plan

Aerial-Ground collaborative sensing: Third-Person view for teleoperation

Rapid deployment and operation are key requirements in time critical application, such as Search and Rescue (SaR). Efficiently teleoperated ground robots can support first-responders in such situations. However, first-person view teleoperation is sub-optimal in difficult terrains, while a third-person perspective can drastically increase teleoperation performance. Here, we propose a Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV)-based system that can autonomously provide third-person perspective to ground robots. While our approach is based on local visual servoing, it further leverages the global localization of several ground robots to seamlessly transfer between these ground robots in GPS-denied environments. Therewith one MAV can support multiple ground robots on a demand basis. Furthermore, our system enables different visual detection regimes, and enhanced operability, and return-home functionality. We evaluate our system in real-world SaR scenarios.Comment: Accepted for publication in 2018 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics (SSRR

AWARE: Platform for Autonomous self-deploying and operation of Wireless sensor-actuator networks cooperating with unmanned AeRial vehiclEs

This paper presents the AWARE platform that seeks to enable the cooperation of autonomous aerial vehicles with ground wireless sensor-actuator networks comprising both static and mobile nodes carried by vehicles or people. Particularly, the paper presents the middleware, the wireless sensor network, the node deployment by means of an autonomous helicopter, and the surveillance and tracking functionalities of the platform. Furthermore, the paper presents the first general experiments of the AWARE project that took place in March 2007 with the assistance of the Seville fire brigades

Future Roles for Autonomous Vertical Lift in Disaster Relief and Emergency Response

System analysis concepts are applied to the assessment of potential collaborative contributions of autonomous system and vertical lift (a.k.a. rotorcraft, VTOL, powered-lift, etc.) technologies to the important, and perhaps underemphasized, application domain of disaster relief and emergency response. In particular, an analytic framework is outlined whereby system design functional requirements for an application domain can be derived from defined societal good goals and objectives

Unmanned Aerial Systems

Unmanned aerial platforms are a means to gather efficiently valuable aerial information to support the crisis manager for further tactical planning and deployment. They can provide continuous support to the coordinators and operators by scanning blocked sectors or establish an communication network. This chapter describes how aerial platforms were tailored to search and rescue (SAR) requirements, including the localisation and tracking of victims. In order to meet the end user demands, complementary platforms are proposed. A small long‐endurance solar aeroplane is used to provide the largest and fastest area coverage at the highest view, and therefore enabling the mapping functionality and potential detection of victims with operation times span up to a day. Complementary to the aeroplane, two rotary‐wing systems were deployed. A large coaxial‐quadrotor was used for outdoor delivery task and detailed close range inspection. Its ability to fly close to the terrain enables a thorough search for victims in a well‐defined sector. A smaller multicopter was used for inspection of the indoor environment. It is able for victim detection in collapsed buildings. Thus, autonomous functionality for precise localisation and positioning was developed to decrease the operator workload

Chapter Unmanned Aerial Systems

Unmanned aerial platforms are a means to gather efficiently valuable aerial information to support the crisis manager for further tactical planning and deployment. They can provide continuous support to the coordinators and operators by scanning blocked sectors or establish an communication network. This chapter describes how aerial platforms were tailored to search and rescue (SAR) requirements, including the localisation and tracking of victims. In order to meet the end user demands, complementary platforms are proposed. A small long‐endurance solar aeroplane is used to provide the largest and fastest area coverage at the highest view, and therefore enabling the mapping functionality and potential detection of victims with operation times span up to a day. Complementary to the aeroplane, two rotary‐wing systems were deployed. A large coaxial‐quadrotor was used for outdoor delivery task and detailed close range inspection. Its ability to fly close to the terrain enables a thorough search for victims in a well‐defined sector. A smaller multicopter was used for inspection of the indoor environment. It is able for victim detection in collapsed buildings. Thus, autonomous functionality for precise localisation and positioning was developed to decrease the operator workload

Multiple UAV systems: a survey

Nowadays, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are used in many different applications. Using systems of multiple UAVs is the next obvious step in the process of applying this technology for variety of tasks. There are few research works that cover the applications of these systems and they are all highly specialized. The goal of this survey is to fill this gap by providing a generic review on different applications of multiple UAV systems that have been developed in recent years. We also present a nomenclature and architecture taxonomy for these systems. In the end, a discussion on current trends and challenges is provided.This work was funded by the Ministry of Economy, Industryand Competitiveness of Spain under Grant Nos. TRA2016-77012-R and BES-2017-079798Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version