Autonomous UAV support for rescue forces using onboard pattern recognition

During search and rescue operations in case of man-made or natural disasters the application forces need exact information about the situation as soon as possible. At the Fraunhofer IOSB a security and supervision system is developed which uses varied modern sensor systems for this purpose. Beside land robots, maritime vessels, sensor networks and fixed cameras also miniature flight drones are used to transport the most different payloads and sensors. To gain a higher level of autonomy for these UAVs, different onboard process chains of image exploitation for tracking landmarks and of control technologies for UAV navigation were implemented and examined to achieve a redundant and reliable UAV precision landing. First experiments have allowed to validate the process chains and to develop a demonstration system for the tracking of landmarks in order to prevent and to minimize any confusion on landings

Dynamic and automatic configuration of distributed heterogeneous surveillance systems

A concept for an automatic dynamic configuration of hierarchical heterogeneous surveillance systems is described. The configuration is based on a central information module (IM) which has access to data describing the characteristics and capabilities of all relevant system components. The description proposed is modular and based on XML standard. Every component must have at least one description file that contains capabilities of the component and their relevant technical characteristics. For complex components containing sub-components, these descriptions are set up hierarchically and contain references to descriptions of sub-parts. Data conversion, separation and fusion modules ensure easy configuration and adaptation to hardware peculiarities. Between the system components direct communication links are normally used to make the system more robust. External systems (for example, command centers) can get information about available capabilities from the IM and can request needed services directly from the components

Detection and protection against unwanted small UAVs

The market for small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is growing fast. Based on increasing reliability, accessibility and decreasing operational restraints these systems become more and more used in different areas of application. Besides the benefits of this development, an increasing number of more or less hazardous incidents with small UAVs can be noticed. Accidents or the misuse of these technologies do lead to dangerous situations – from simple mishaps over illegal activities like spying or drug transportation up to the possibilities of terroristic actions. To deal with this development a concept of a new Low Altitude Air Surveillance Control (LASC) system is developed. Based on heterogeneous, distributed multi-sensor networks embedded into a capable and application oriented modular, adaptable and scalable backend system, the LASC concept addresses detection, localization, tracking and classification or identification of small UAVs providing interactive threat and risk assessment as well as suggestions for adequate counter measures

ASIMUT project: Aid to SItuation Management based on MUltimodal, MUltiUAVs, MUltilevel acquisition Techniques

This document summarizes the activities and results of the ASIMUT project (Aid to SItuation Management based on MUltimodal, MUltiUAVs, MUltilevel acquisition Techniques) carried out by the consortium composed of Thales, Fraunhofer IOSB, Fly-n-Sense, University of Bordeaux and University of Luxembourg. Funded by the European Defence Agency (EDA), the objectives of the ASIMUT project are to design, implement and validate algorithms that will allow the efficient usage of autonomous swarms of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance missions