Drones and Sensors Ecosystem to Maximise the “Storm Effects” in Case of CBRNe Dispersion in Large Geographic Areas

The advancements in the field of robotics, specifically in the aerial robotics, combined with technological improvements of the capability of drones, have increased dramatically the use of these devices as a valuable tool in a wide range of applications. From civil to commercial and military area, the requirements in the emerging application for monitoring complex scenarios that are potentially dangerous for operators give rise to the need of a more powerful and sophisticated approach. This work aims at proposing the use of swarm drones to increase plume detection, tracking and source declaration for chemical releases. The several advantages which this technology may lead to this research and application fields are investigated, as well as the research and technological activities to be performed to make swarm drones efficient, reliable, and accurate

Development and performance testing of a miniaturized multi-sensor system combining MOX and PID for potential UAV application in TIC, VOC and CWA dispersion scenarios

The development of a tool to reduce the exposure of personnel in case of inten- tional or accidental toxic chemicals dispersion scenarios opens the field to new operational perspectives in the domain of operator safety and of critical infrastructure monitoring. The use of two sensors with different operating principles, metal oxide and photo-ionization detector, allows to confirm the presence of specific classes of chemicals in a contaminated area. All instruments are expected to be integrated into the payload of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and used for different purposes such as critical infrastructure surveillance focused on the volatile organic chemical and chemical warfare agents (CWA) detection and the post-incident of contamination level monitoring. In this paper, the authors presented the hardware set-up implemented and the test realized with CWAs simulants and will discuss the results obtained presenting advantages and disadvantages of this system in an application such as a UAV for the detection of chemical substances

Design of Miniaturized Sensors for a Mission-Oriented UAV Application: A New Pathway for Early Warning

In recent decades, the increasing threats associated with Chemical and Radiological (CR) agents prompted the development of new tools to detect and collect samples without putting in danger first responders inside contaminated areas. A particularly promising branch of these technological developments relates to the integration of different detectors and sampling systems with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). The adoption of this equipment may bring significant benefits for both military and civilian implementations. For instance, instrumented UAVs could be used in support of specialist military teams such as Sampling and Identification of Biological, Chemical and Radiological Agents (SIBCRA) team, tasked to perform sampling in contaminated areas, detecting the presence of CR substances in field and then confirming, collecting and evaluating the effective threats. Furthermore, instrumented UAVs may find dual-use application in the civil world in support of emergency teams during industrial accidents and in the monitoring activities of critical infrastructures. Small size drones equipped with different instruments for detection and collection of samples may enable, indeed, several applications, becoming a tool versatile and easy to use in different fields, and even featuring equipment normally utilized in manual operation. The authors hereby present the design of miniaturized sensors for a mission-oriented UAV application and the preliminary results from an experimental campaign performed in 2020

A low-cost radiation detection system to monitor radioactive environments by unmanned vehicles

AbstractUnconventional scenarios with hazardous radioactive levels are expected as consequences of accidents in the industrial sector of the nuclear energy production or following intentional releases of radioactive materials for terrorist purposes (dirty bombs, indoor contaminations, etc.). Nowadays, the need to balance the high standards of safety and security through an effective detection network is a matter of paramount importance. In this work, the authors' challenge has been to design, realize and test a low-cost gamma detection and spectroscopy system which may be used in unmanned vehicles in general and/or drones with low payload capabilities. The designed platform may be used to carry out mapping or localization operations in order to reduce the risk factor for first responders or for the population affected by radiological and nuclear events. In this paper, the design process of a gamma ray detection and spectroscopy system based on affordable and commercially available technologies is presented along with the results of our ongoing characterization of the prototype