A robot swarm assisting a human fire-fighter

Emergencies in industrial warehouses are a major concern for fire-fighters. The large dimensions, together with the development of dense smoke that drastically reduces visibility, represent major challenges. The GUARDIANS robot swarm is designed to assist fire-fighters in searching a large warehouse. In this paper we discuss the technology developed for a swarm of robots assisting fire-fighters. We explain the swarming algorithms that provide the functionality by which the robots react to and follow humans while no communication is required. Next we discuss the wireless communication system, which is a so-called mobile ad-hoc network. The communication network provides also the means to locate the robots and humans. Thus, the robot swarm is able to provide guidance information to the humans. Together with the fire-fighters we explored how the robot swarm should feed information back to the human fire-fighter. We have designed and experimented with interfaces for presenting swarm-based information to human beings

A Survey on Aerial Swarm Robotics

The use of aerial swarms to solve real-world problems has been increasing steadily, accompanied by falling prices and improving performance of communication, sensing, and processing hardware. The commoditization of hardware has reduced unit costs, thereby lowering the barriers to entry to the field of aerial swarm robotics. A key enabling technology for swarms is the family of algorithms that allow the individual members of the swarm to communicate and allocate tasks amongst themselves, plan their trajectories, and coordinate their flight in such a way that the overall objectives of the swarm are achieved efficiently. These algorithms, often organized in a hierarchical fashion, endow the swarm with autonomy at every level, and the role of a human operator can be reduced, in principle, to interactions at a higher level without direct intervention. This technology depends on the clever and innovative application of theoretical tools from control and estimation. This paper reviews the state of the art of these theoretical tools, specifically focusing on how they have been developed for, and applied to, aerial swarms. Aerial swarms differ from swarms of ground-based vehicles in two respects: they operate in a three-dimensional space and the dynamics of individual vehicles adds an extra layer of complexity. We review dynamic modeling and conditions for stability and controllability that are essential in order to achieve cooperative flight and distributed sensing. The main sections of this paper focus on major results covering trajectory generation, task allocation, adversarial control, distributed sensing, monitoring, and mapping. Wherever possible, we indicate how the physics and subsystem technologies of aerial robots are brought to bear on these individual areas

GUARDIANS final report part 1 (draft): a robot swarm assisting a human fire fighter

Emergencies in industrial warehouses are a major concern for fire fighters. The large dimensions together with the development of dense smoke that drastically reduces visibility, represent major challenges. The Guardians robot swarm is designed to assist re ghters in searching a large warehouse. In this paper we discuss the technology developed for a swarm of robots assisting re ghters. We explain the swarming algorithms which provide the functionality by which the robots react to and follow humans while no communication is required. Next we discuss the wireless communication system, which is a so-called mobile ad-hoc network. The communication network provides also the means to locate the robots and humans. Thus the robot swarm is able to provide guidance information to the humans. Together with the fire fighters we explored how the robot swarm should feed information back to the human fire fighter. We have designed and experimented with interfaces for presenting swarm based information to human beings

Human-Machine Cooperative Decision Making

The research reported in this thesis focuses on the decision making aspect of human-machine cooperation and reveals new insights from theoretical modeling to experimental evaluations: Two mathematical behavior models of two emancipated cooperation partners in a cooperative decision making process are introduced. The model-based automation designs are experimentally evaluated and thereby demonstrate their benefits compared to state-of-the-art approaches

Human-Machine Cooperative Decision Making

Diese Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit der gemeinsamen Entscheidungsfindung in der Mensch-Maschine-Kooperation und liefert neue Erkenntnisse, welche von der theoretischen Modellierung bis zu experimentellen Untersuchungen reichen. Zunächst wird eine methodische Klassifikation bestehender Forschung zur Mensch-Maschine-Kooperation vorgenommen und der Forschungsfokus dieser Dissertation mithilfe eines vorgestellten Taxonomiemodells der Mensch-Maschine-Kooperation, dem Butterfly-Modell, abgegrenzt. Darauffolgend stellt die Dissertation zwei mathematische Verhaltensmodelle der gemeinsamen Entscheidungsfindung von Mensch und Maschine vor: das Adaptive Verhandlungsmodell und den n-stufigen War of Attrition. Beide modellieren den Einigungsprozess zweier emanzipierter Kooperationspartner und unterscheiden sich hinsichtlich ihrer Ursprünge, welche in der Verhandlungs- beziehungsweise Spieltheorie liegen. Zusätzlich wird eine Studie vorgestellt, die die Eignung der vorgeschlagenen mathematischen Modelle zur Beschreibung des menschlichen Nachgebeverhaltens in kooperativen Entscheidungsfindungs-Prozessen nachweist. Darauf aufbauend werden zwei modellbasierte Automationsdesigns bereitgestellt, welche die Entwicklung von Maschinen ermöglichen, die an einem Einigungsprozess mit einem Menschen teilnehmen können. Zuletzt werden zwei experimentelle Untersuchungen der vorgeschlagenen Automationsdesigns im Kontext von teleoperierten mobilen Robotern in Such- und Rettungsszenarien und anhand einer Anwendung in einem hochautomatisierten Fahrzeug präsentiert. Die experimentellen Ergebnisse liefern empirische Evidenz für die Überlegenheit der vorgestellten modellbasierten Automationsdesigns gegenüber den bisherigen Ansätzen in den Aspekten der objektiven kooperativen Performanz, des menschlichen Vertrauens in die Interaktion mit der Maschine und der Nutzerzufriedenheit. So zeigt diese Dissertation, dass Menschen eine emanzipierte Interaktion mit Bezug auf die Entscheidungsfindung bevorzugen, und leistet einen wertvollen Beitrag zur vollumfänglichen Betrachtung und Verwirklichung von Mensch-Maschine-Kooperationen

GUARDIANS final report

Emergencies in industrial warehouses are a major concern for firefghters. The large dimensions together with the development of dense smoke that drastically reduces visibility, represent major challenges. The Guardians robot swarm is designed to assist fire fighters in searching a large warehouse. In this report we discuss the technology developed for a swarm of robots searching and assisting fire fighters. We explain the swarming algorithms which provide the functionality by which the robots react to and follow humans while no communication is required. Next we discuss the wireless communication system, which is a so-called mobile ad-hoc network. The communication network provides also one of the means to locate the robots and humans. Thus the robot swarm is able to locate itself and provide guidance information to the humans. Together with the re ghters we explored how the robot swarm should feed information back to the human fire fighter. We have designed and experimented with interfaces for presenting swarm based information to human beings