Data Gathering and Dissemination over Flying Ad-hoc Networks in Smart Environments

The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) has laid the foundations for new possibilities in our life. The ability to communicate with any electronic device has become a fascinating opportunity. Particularly interesting are UAVs (Unmanned Airborne Vehicles), autonomous or remotely controlled flying devices able to operate in many contexts thanks to their mobility, sensors, and communication capabilities. Recently, the use of UAVs has become an important asset in many critical and common scenarios; thereby, various research groups have started to consider UAVs’ potentiality applied on smart environments. UAVs can communicate with each other forming a Flying Ad-hoc Network (FANET), in order to provide complex services that requires the coordination of several UAVs; yet, this also generates challenging communication issues. This dissertation starts from this standpoint, firstly focusing on networking issues and potential solutions already present in the state-of-the-art. To this aim, the peculiar issues of routing in mobile, 3D shaped ad-hoc networks have been investigated through a set of simulations to compare different ad-hoc routing protocols and understand their limits. From this knowledge, our work takes into consideration the differences between classic MANETs and FANETs, highlighting the specific communication performance of UAVs and their specific mobility models. Based on these assumptions, we propose refinements and improvements of routing protocols, as well as their linkage with actual UAV-based applications to support smart services. Particular consideration is devoted to Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networks (DTNs), characterized by long packet delays and intermittent connectivity, a critical aspect when UAVs are involved. The goal is to leverage on context-aware strategies in order to design more efficient routing solutions. The outcome of this work includes the design and analysis of new routing protocols supporting efficient UAVs’ communication with heterogeneous smart objects in smart environments. Finally, we discuss about how the presence of UAV swarms may affect the perception of population, providing a critical analysis of how the consideration of these aspects could change a FANET communication infrastructure

AN INTEGRATED SIMULATION APPROACH FOR AUV IMAGE-BASED SLAM NAVIGATION

This thesis develops a simulation framework for undersea feature-based navigation. Using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to locate an item of interest on the seafloor is a capability that would greatly benefit the Navy. AUVs provide a gateway toward removing the workforce requirement; however, they are still costly both in acquisition and maintenance. A solution to this problem is using two AUVs, one with increased capability and charged with finding and marking seafloor items with a beacon. An expendable AUV outfitted with cost-effective sensors would relocate, identify and neutralize the threat. Using undersea imaging to correlate seafloor images to an a priori image mosaic together with a ultra short baseline (USBL) beacon allows the AUV to complete challenging mission objectives without traditional navigation systems. Incremental Smoothing and Mapping 2 (iSAM2) is a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) technique that can be used by the AUV for position localization and is an appropriate technique, with image and USBL sensing, for real-time navigation operations. A simulation framework provides the ability to evaluate an AUV's performance while minimizing the risk of real-world operations. The framework is composed of a software architecture that allows for testing using the same software applied in real-world operations. This thesis demonstrates this framework and provides analysis for its usability for image-based SLAM.Lieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Next-Generation Public Safety Systems Based on Autonomous Vehicles and Opportunistic Communications

An emergency scenario is characterized by the unpredictability of the environment conditions and by the scarcity of the available communication infrastructures. After a natural or human disaster, the main public and private infrastructures are partially damaged or totally destroyed. These infrastructures include roads, bridges, water supplies, electrical grids, telecommunications and so on. In these conditions, the first rescue operations executed by the public safety organizations can be very difficult, due to the unpredictability of the disaster area environment and the lack in the communications systems. The aim of this work is to introduce next-generation public safety systems where the main focus is the use of unmanned vehicles that are able to exploit the self-organizing characteristics of such autonomous systems. With the proposed public safety systems, a team of autonomous vehicles will be able to overcome the hazardous environments of a post disaster scenario by introducing a temporary dynamic network infrastructure which enables the first responders to cooperate and to communicate with the victims involved. Furthermore, given the pervasive penetration of smart end-user devices, the emergence of spontaneous networks could constitute promising solutions to implement emergency communication systems. With these systems the survivors will be able to self-organize in a communication network that allows them to send alerts and information messages towards the rescue teams, even in absence of communication infrastructures

DRONE DELIVERY OF CBNRECy – DEW WEAPONS Emerging Threats of Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction and Disruption (WMDD)

Drone Delivery of CBNRECy – DEW Weapons: Emerging Threats of Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction and Disruption (WMDD) is our sixth textbook in a series covering the world of UASs and UUVs. Our textbook takes on a whole new purview for UAS / CUAS/ UUV (drones) – how they can be used to deploy Weapons of Mass Destruction and Deception against CBRNE and civilian targets of opportunity. We are concerned with the future use of these inexpensive devices and their availability to maleficent actors. Our work suggests that UASs in air and underwater UUVs will be the future of military and civilian terrorist operations. UAS / UUVs can deliver a huge punch for a low investment and minimize human casualties.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1046/thumbnail.jp

Topology-aware optimal task allocation framework for mission critical environment: Centralized and decentralized approaches

A Mission Critical Environment (MCE) consists of error-prone, highly variable, and highly rate limited communication channels. Paradoxically, this environment substantially increases the need to perform Optimal Task Allocation (OTA), while at the same time making it much harder to perform OTA efficiently. To perform OTA in MCE, in this thesis, I have proposed two novel automated algorithms. The first algorithm is called Centralized Optimal Task Allocation Algorithm (COTAA), where I consider OTA for publish/subscribe-based MCE since it has unique characteristics such as high level publish/subscribe node and task differentiation and high scalability. I also propose an architectural framework and communication protocols emphasizing the unique challenges of MCE. I adopt well known Hungarian Algorithm and Rectangular Assignment Algorithm to solve the OTA problem in polynomial time. The second algorithm is called Decentralized Optimal Task Allocation Algorithm (DOTAA) which exploits the concept of application-layer Distributed Hash Table (DHT) to perform OTA in MCE. Through simulations, I evaluate the performance of both COTAA and DOTAA for multiple mission critical scenarios. The results indicate that both COTAA and DOTAA achieve the goal of OTA in highly dynamic MCEs, with low processing time and communication overhead

A cumulative index to Aeronautical Engineering: A special bibliography, January 1975

A cumulative index to the abstracts contained in NASA SP-7307 (41) through NASA SP-7037 (52) is presented. Subject, personal author, corporate source, contract, and report number indexes are included

Advanced Modeling, Control, and Optimization Methods in Power Hybrid Systems - 2021

The climate changes that are becoming visible today are a challenge for the global research community. In this context, renewable energy sources, fuel cell systems and other energy generating sources must be optimally combined and connected to the grid system using advanced energy transaction methods. As this reprint presents the latest solutions in the implementation of fuel cell and renewable energy in mobile and stationary applications such as hybrid and microgrid power systems based on the Energy Internet, blockchain technology and smart contracts, we hope that they will be of interest to readers working in the related fields mentioned above

Energy conservation in wireless sensor networks

This dissertation presents a system-level approach for minimizing the power expended in achieving communication between a ground-based sensor network and an overhead Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). A subset of sensor nodes, termed a transmit cluster, aggregates data gathered by the network and forms a distributed antenna array, concentrating the radiated transmission into a beam aimed towards the UAV. We present a method for more uniformly distributing the energy burden across the sensor network, specifying the time that should elapse between reassignments of the transmit cluster and the number of hops that should be placed between successive transmit clusters. We analyze the performance of two strategies for reconfiguring the communication burden between the sensor network and the UAV in order to bring the UAV and the sensor network's beam into alignment quickly, while minimizing the energy expenditure. We analyze the optimal number of nodes that should participate in a beamforming process in order to minimize the energy expended by the network, and we provide a framework to analyze the minimum energy expended in a simple beamforming algorithm. Finally, we analyze the probability that an arbitrarily selected sensor node is connected to a specified number of other nodes and we present an algorithm for the formation of near-linear arrays given random placement of nodes.http://archive.org/details/energyconservati1094510228Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited