Behavioral control of unmanned aerial vehicle manipulator systems

In this paper a behavioral control framework is developed to control an unmanned aerial vehicle-manipulator (UAVM) system, composed by a multirotor aerial vehicle equipped with a robotic arm. The goal is to ensure vehicle-arm coordination and manage complex multi-task missions, where different behaviors must be encompassed in a clear and meaningful way. In detail, a control scheme, based on the null space-based behavioral paradigm, is proposed to handle the coordination between the arm and vehicle motion. To this aim, a set of basic functionalities (elementary behaviors) are designed and combined in a given priority order, in order to attain more complex tasks (compound behaviors). A supervisor is in charge of switching between the compound behaviors according to the mission needs and the sensory feedback. The method is validated on a real testbed, consisting of a multirotor aircraft with an attached 6 Degree of Freedoms manipulator, developed within the EU-funded project ARCAS (Aerial Robotics Cooperative Assembly System). At the the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that an UAVM system is experimentally tested in the execution of complex multi-task missions. The results show that, by properly designing a set of compound behaviors and a supervisor, vehicle-arm coordination in complex missions can be effectively managed

Procedures for the Integration of Drones into the Airspace Based on U-Space Services

A safe integration of drones into the airspace is fundamental to unblock the potential of drone applications. U-space is the drone traffic management solution for Europe, intended to handle a large number of drones in the airspace, especially at very low level (VLL). This paper presents the procedures we have designed and tested in real flights in the SAFEDRONE European project to pave the way for a safe integration of drones into the airspace using U-space services. We include three important aspects: Design of procedures related to no-fly zones, ensure separation with manned aircraft, and autonomous non-cooperative detect-and-avoid (DAA) technologies. A specific U-space architecture has been designed and implemented for flight campaigns with up to eight drones with different configurations and a manned aircraft. From this experience, specific recommendations about procedures to exit and avoiding no-fly zones are presented. Additionally, it has been concluded that the use of surveillance information of manned aircraft will allow a more efficient use of the airspace while maintaining a proper safety level, avoiding the creation of large geofence areas.Programa Horizonte 2020. Unión Europea 78321

The challenge of preparing teams for the European robotics league: Emergency

© 2017, Society for Imaging Science and Technology. ERL Emergency is an outdoor multi-domain robotic competition inspired by the 2011 Fukushima accident. The ERL Emergency Challenge requires teams of land, underwater and flying robots to work together to survey the scene, collect environmental data, and identify critical hazards. To prepare teams for this multidisciplinary task a series of summer schools and workshops have been arranged. In this paper the challenges and hands-on results of bringing students and researchers collaborating successfully in unknown environments and in new research areas are explained. As a case study results from the euRathlon/SHERPA workshop 2015 in Oulu are given

PPCar (Personal Pendulum Car): Vehículo basado en péndulo invertido

XXV Jornadas de Automática. Año 2004Este artículo presenta la descripción de un prototipo construido en la Escuela Superior de Ingenieros de Sevilla para el transporte de personas. Este vehículo basa su movimiento en la estabilización de un péndulo invertido. El sistema ha sido diseñado en su totalidad desde la estructura mecánica al diseño de los controladores, utilizando componentes comerciales y de bajo coste. El control del vehículo se realiza desde un microcontrolador a bordo, supervisado desde un PC y estando ambos comunicados a través de un enlace inalámbrico. El prototipo desarrollado tiene como finalidad servir de plataforma de investigación para técnicas de control.Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología DPI2004-06419Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología DPI2003-00429Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología HF2003-0237Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología SAB2003-008

Composition, potential emissions and agricultural value of pig slurry from Spanish commercial farms

[EN] Pig slurry is a valuable fertilizer for crop production but at the same time its management may pose environmental risks. Slurry samples were collected from 77 commercial farms of four animal categories (gestating and lactating sows, nursery piglets and growing pigs) and analyzed for macronutrients, micronutrients, heavy metals and volatile fatty acids. Emissions of ammonia (NH3) and biochemical methane potential (BMP) were quantified. Slurry electrical conductivity, pH, dry matter content and ash content were also determined. Data analysis included an analysis of correlations among variables, the development of predictionmodels for gaseousemissions and the analysis of nutritional content of slurries for crop production. Descriptive information is provided in this work and shows a wide range of variability in all studied variables. Animal category affected some physicochemical parameters, probably as a consequence of different slurry management and use of cleaning water. Slurries from gestating sows and growing pigs tended to be more concentrated in nutrients, whereas the slurry from lactating sows and nursery piglets tended to be more diluted. Relevant relationships were found among slurry characteristics expressed in fresh basis and gas emissions. Predictivemodels using on-farmmeasurable parameterswere obtained forNH3 (R2 = 0.51) andCH4 (R2 = 0.76), which suggests that BMP may be estimated in commercial farms from easily determined slurry characteristics. Finally, slurry nutrient composition was highly variable. Therefore, complete analyses of slurries should be performed for an effective and environmental friendly land application.This project was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (AGL2011-30023) and the Valencian Government (ACOMP/2013/118). We thank the BABEL Project, Building Academic Bonds between Europe and Latin America. Erasmus Mundus Programme Action 2 for PhD fellowships. 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Ruxolitinib in refractory acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease : a multicenter survey study

Graft-versus-host disease is the main cause of morbidity and mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. First-line treatment is based on the use of high doses of corticosteroids. Unfortunately, second-line treatment for both acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease, remains a challenge. Ruxolitinib has been shown as an effective and safe treatment option for these patients. Seventy-nine patients received ruxolitinib and were evaluated in this retrospective and multicenter study. Twenty-three patients received ruxolitinib for refractory acute graft-versus-host disease after a median of 3 (range 1-5) previous lines of therapy. Overall response rate was 69.5% (16/23) which was obtained after a median of 2 weeks of treatment, and 21.7% (5/23) reached complete remission. Fifty-six patients were evaluated for refractory chronic graft-versus-host disease. The median number of previous lines of therapy was 3 (range 1-10). Overall response rate was 57.1% (32/56) with 3.5% (2/56) obtaining complete remission after a median of 4 weeks. Tapering of corticosteroids was possible in both acute (17/23, 73%) and chronic graft-versus-host disease (32/56, 57.1%) groups. Overall survival was 47% (CI: 23-67%) at 6 months for patients with aGVHD (62 vs 28% in responders vs non-responders) and 81% (CI: 63-89%) at 1 year for patients with cGVHD (83 vs 76% in responders vs non-responders). Ruxolitinib in the real life setting is an effective and safe treatment option for GVHD, with an ORR of 69.5% and 57.1% for refractory acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease, respectively, in heavily pretreated patients

Towards Autonomous Autorotation Landing for Small Size Unmanned Helicopters

The consideration of safety issues in the operation of helicopters involves the capability to perform emergency descending maneuvers through the autorotation principle when the engine is no longer supplying power. When comparing manned and unmanned helicopters, the lower rotor inertia of UAV configurations makes this functionality even more challenging for the pilot since more accurate timing and speed control of the flare phase are required. This paper presents a complete set of guidelines to design a controller for the autonomous autorotation landing of an UAV. This analysis is based on experimental data that corresponds to autorotation landings of a small-size helicopter carried out by a skillful pilot

RESTful Software Architecture for ROS-based Onboard Mission System for Drones

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, have recently gained much attention and are being deployed in many fields such as delivery services, surveillance, and agriculture. Many drone applications require autonomy features and ask for integration into other platforms. This paper investigates software architecture for drones that fosters interoperability with web services while supporting autonomy. It extends an existing autonomy architectures with a web service layer that allows task level integration through a Representational State Transfer (REST) interface. Underlying Robot Operating System (ROS) layer not only enriches the architecture with the capabilities of the available ROS nodes, but also provides a state of the art middleware support. The proposed architecture is demonstrated in Gazebo where a simulated drone is flown with an onboard mission system on a Raspberry Pi connected remotely to the RESTful client, thereby allowing remote execution of missions through web services