Real-time generation of 3-dimensional representations of static objects using small unmanned aerial vehicles

Recent advances in robotics and nanotechnology resulted in a set of miniaturized Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Such small UAVs are envisioned to operate in hard-to-reach areas for enabling applications such as structural monitoring or content capturing. Towards showcasing this vision, we demonstrate a small UAV-supported setup for real-time autonomous generation of 3-Dimensional (3D) representations of static objects. In the setup, a small UAV (i.e., CrazyFlie 2.1) is envisioned to visit a set of locations, acting as a carrier and power source of a camera sensor. At each location, the sensor is expected to take a picture of the object and report it to the station. The station implements a pipeline for 3D reconstruction based on the pictures taken by the UAV.This work was funded by the MCIN/AEI/10.13039/01100011033/ FEDER/EU HoloMit 2.0 (PID2021-126551OB-C21) and MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 TRAINER-A (PID2020-118011GB-C21).Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Multi-channel medium access control protocols for wireless networks within computing packages

Wireless communications at the chip scale emerge as a interesting complement to traditional wire-based approaches thanks to their low latency, inherent broadcast nature, and capacity to bypass pin constraints. However, as current trends push towards massive and bandwidth-hungry processor architectures, there is a need for wireless chip-scale networks that exploit and share as many channels as possible. In this context, this work addresses the issue of channel sharing by exploring the design space of multi-channel Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols for chip-scale networks. Distinct channel assignment strategies for both random access and token passing are presented and evaluated under realistic traffic patterns. It is shown that, even with the improvements enabled by the multiple channels, both protocols maintain their intrinsic advantages and disadvantages.This work is supported by the European Commission under H2020 grant WiPLASH (GA 863337) and HE grant WINC (GA 101042080).Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft