78 research outputs found
Decentralized collaborative transport of fabrics using micro-UAVs
Small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have generally little capacity to carry
payloads. Through collaboration, the UAVs can increase their joint payload
capacity and carry more significant loads. For maximum flexibility to dynamic
and unstructured environments and task demands, we propose a fully
decentralized control infrastructure based on a swarm-specific scripting
language, Buzz. In this paper, we describe the control infrastructure and use
it to compare two algorithms for collaborative transport: field potentials and
spring-damper. We test the performance of our approach with a fleet of
micro-UAVs, demonstrating the potential of decentralized control for
collaborative transport.Comment: Submitted to 2019 International Conference on Robotics and Automation
(ICRA). 6 page
Swarm Relays: Distributed Self-Healing Ground-and-Air Connectivity Chains
The coordination of robot swarms - large decentralized teams of robots -
generally relies on robust and efficient inter-robot communication. Maintaining
communication between robots is particularly challenging in field deployments.
Unstructured environments, limited computational resources, low bandwidth, and
robot failures all contribute to the complexity of connectivity maintenance. In
this paper, we propose a novel lightweight algorithm to navigate a group of
robots in complex environments while maintaining connectivity by building a
chain of robots. The algorithm is robust to single robot failures and can heal
broken communication links. The algorithm works in 3D environments: when a
region is unreachable by wheeled robots, the chain is extended with flying
robots. We test the performance of the algorithm using up to 100 robots in a
physics-based simulator with three mazes and different robot failure scenarios.
We then validate the algorithm with physical platforms: 7 wheeled robots and 6
flying ones, in homogeneous and heterogeneous scenarios.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in Robotics and
Automation Letters (RAL
Annals of Scientific Society for Assembly, Handling and Industrial Robotics
This Open Access proceedings present a good overview of the current research landscape of industrial robots. The objective of MHI Colloquium is a successful networking at academic and management level. Thereby the colloquium is focussing on a high level academic exchange to distribute the obtained research results, determine synergetic effects and trends, connect the actors personally and in conclusion strengthen the research field as well as the MHI community. Additionally there is the possibility to become acquainted with the organizing institute. Primary audience are members of the scientific association for assembly, handling and industrial robots (WG MHI)
Cooperative data muling using a team of unmanned aerial vehicles
Philosophiae Doctor - PhDUnmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have recently o ered signi cant technological achievements. The
advancement in related applications predicts an extended need for automated data muling by UAVs, to
explore high risk places, ensure e ciency and reduce the cost of various products and services. Due to
advances in technology, the actual UAVs are not as expensive as they once were. On the other hand,
they are limited in their
ight time especially if they have to use fuel. As a result, it has recently been
proposed that they could be assisted by the ground static sensors which provide information of their
surroundings. Then, the UAVs need only to provide actions depending on information received from
the ground sensors. In addition, UAVs need to cooperate among themselves and work together with
organised ground sensors to achieve an optimal coverage. The system to handle the cooperation of
UAVs, together with the ground sensors, is still an interesting research topic which would bene t both
rural and urban areas.
In this thesis, an e cient ground sensor network for optimal UAVs coverage is rst proposed. This is
done using a clustering scheme wherein, each cluster member transmits its sensor readings to its cluster
head. A more e cient routing scheme for delivering readings to cluster head(s) for collection by UAVs is
also proposed. Furthermore, airborne sensor deployment models are provided for e cient data collection
from a unique sensor/target. The model proposed for this consists of a scheduling technique which
manages the visitation of UAVs to target. Lastly, issues relating to the interplay between both types of
sensor (airborne and ground/underground) networks are addressed by proposing the optimal UAVs task
allocation models; which take caters for both the ground networking and aerial deployment.
Existing network and tra c engineering techniques were adopted in order to handle the internetworking
of the ground sensors. UAVs deployment is addressed by adopting Operational Research techniques
including dynamic assignment and scheduling models. The proposed models were validated by simulations,
experiments and in some cases, formal methods used to formalise and prove the correctness of key
properties
Smart territories
The concept of smart cities is relatively new in research. Thanks to the colossal advances in Artificial Intelligence that took place over the last decade we are able to do all that that we once thought impossible; we build cities driven by information and technologies. In this keynote, we are going to look at the success stories of smart city-related projects and analyse the factors that led them to success.
The development of interactive, reliable and secure systems, both connectionist and symbolic, is often a time-consuming process in which numerous experts are involved. However, intuitive and automated tools like “Deep Intelligence” developed by DCSc and BISITE, facilitate this process.
Furthermore, in this talk we will analyse the importance of complementary technologies such as IoT and Blockchain in the development of intelligent systems, as well as the use of edge platforms or fog computing
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