Towards efficient on-board deployment of DNNs on intelligent autonomous systems

With their unprecedented performance in major AI tasks, deep neural networks (DNNs) have emerged as a primary building block in modern autonomous systems. Intelligent systems such as drones, mobile robots and driverless cars largely base their perception, planning and application-specific tasks on DNN models. Nevertheless, due to the nature of these applications, such systems require on-board local processing in order to retain their autonomy and meet latency and throughput constraints. In this respect, the large computational and memory demands of DNN workloads pose a significant barrier on their deployment on the resource-and power-constrained compute platforms that are available on-board. This paper presents an overview of recent methods and hardware architectures that address the system-level challenges of modern DNN-enabled autonomous systems at both the algorithmic and hardware design level. Spanning from latency-driven approximate computing techniques to high-throughput mixed-precision cascaded classifiers, the presented set of works paves the way for the on-board deployment of sophisticated DNN models on robots and autonomous systems

Meteorological satellites

An overview is presented of the meteorological satellite programs that have been evolving from 1958 to the present, and plans for the future meteorological and environmental satellite systems that are scheduled to be placed into service in the early 1980's are reviewed. The development of the TIROS family of weather satellites, including TIROS, ESSA, ITOS/NOAA, and the present TIROS-N (the third generation operational system) is summarized. The contribution of the Nimbus and ATS technology satellites to the development of the operational-orbiting and geostationary satellites is discussed. Included are descriptions of both the TIROS-N and the DMSP payloads currently under development to assure a continued and orderly growth of these systems into the 1980's

Airborne chemical sensing with mobile robots

Airborne chemical sensing with mobile robots has been an active research areasince the beginning of the 1990s. This article presents a review of research work in this field,including gas distribution mapping, trail guidance, and the different subtasks of gas sourcelocalisation. Due to the difficulty of modelling gas distribution in a real world environmentwith currently available simulation techniques, we focus largely on experimental work and donot consider publications that are purely based on simulations

Technology for the Future: In-Space Technology Experiments Program, part 2

The purpose of the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) In-Space Technology Experiments Program In-STEP 1988 Workshop was to identify and prioritize technologies that are critical for future national space programs and require validation in the space environment, and review current NASA (In-Reach) and industry/ university (Out-Reach) experiments. A prioritized list of the critical technology needs was developed for the following eight disciplines: structures; environmental effects; power systems and thermal management; fluid management and propulsion systems; automation and robotics; sensors and information systems; in-space systems; and humans in space. This is part two of two parts and contains the critical technology presentations for the eight theme elements and a summary listing of critical space technology needs for each theme

Autonomous Vehicles

This edited volume, Autonomous Vehicles, is a collection of reviewed and relevant research chapters, offering a comprehensive overview of recent developments in the field of vehicle autonomy. The book comprises nine chapters authored by various researchers and edited by an expert active in the field of study. All chapters are complete in itself but united under a common research study topic. This publication aims to provide a thorough overview of the latest research efforts by international authors, open new possible research paths for further novel developments, and to inspire the younger generations into pursuing relevant academic studies and professional careers within the autonomous vehicle field

Technical approaches, chapter 3, part E

Radar altimeters, scatterometers, and imaging radar are described in terms of their functions, future developments, constraints, and applications

Spacecraft/Rover Hybrids for the Exploration of Small Solar System Bodies

This study investigated a novel mission architecture for the systematic and affordable in-situ exploration of small Solar System bodies. Specifically, a mother spacecraft would deploy over the surface of a small body one, or several, spacecraft/rover hybrids, which are small, multi-faceted enclosed robots with internal actuation and external spikes. They would be capable of 1) long excursions (by hopping), 2) short traverses to specific locations (through a sequence of controlled tumbles), and 3) high-altitude, attitude-controlled ballistic flight (akin to spacecraft flight). Their control would rely on synergistic operations with the mother spacecraft (where most of hybrids' perception and localization functionalities would be hosted), which would make the platforms minimalistic and, in turn, the entire mission architecture affordable

Underwater Drone Architecture for Marine Digital Twin: Lessons Learned from SUSHI DROP Project

The ability to observe the world has seen significant developments in the last few decades, alongside the techniques and methodologies to derive accurate digital replicas of observed environments. Underwater ecosystems present greater challenges and remain largely unexplored, but the need for reliable and up-to-date information motivated the birth of the Interreg Italy-Croatia SUSHI DROP Project (SUstainable fiSHeries wIth DROnes data Processing). The aim of the project is to map ecosystems for sustainable fishing and to achieve this goal a prototype of an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV), named Blucy, has been designed and developed. Blucy was deployed during project missions for surveying the benthic zone in deep waters of the Adriatic Sea with non-invasive techniques compared to the use of trawl nets. This article describes the strategies followed, the instruments applied and the challenges to be overcome to obtain an accurately georeferenced underwater survey with the goal of creating a marine digital twin