10 accepted papers
We present a novel approach to localizing radioactive material by cooperating Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). Our approach utilizes a state-of-the-art single-detector Compton camera as a highly sensitive, yet miniature detector of ionizing radiation. The detector's exceptionally low weight (40 g) open
Robotic simulators play a crucial role in the development and testing of autonomous systems, particularly in the realm of Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV). However, existing simulators often lack high-level autonomy, hindering their immediate applicability to complex tasks such as autonomous navigatio
A decentralized swarm approach for the fast cooperative flight of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in feature-poor environments without any external localization and communication is introduced in this letter. A novel model of a UAV neighborhood is proposed to achieve robust onboard mutual perception
A unique approach for mid-air autonomous aerial interception of non-cooperating Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles by a flying robot equipped with a net is presented in this paper. A novel interception guidance method dubbed Fast Response Proportional Navigation (FRPN) is proposed, designed to catch agile man
This letter presents a self-contained system for the robust utilization of aerial robots in the autonomous exploration of cave environments to help human explorers, first responders, and speleologists. The proposed system is generally applicable to an arbitrary exploration task within an unknown and
A framework for computing feasible and constrained trajectories for a fleet of quad-rotors leveraging on Signal Temporal Logic (STL) specifications for power line inspection tasks is proposed in this letter. The planner allows the formulation of complex missions that avoid obstacles and maintain a s
In this letter we present an autonomous system intended for aerial monitoring, inspection and assistance in Search and Rescue (SAR) operations within a constrained workspace. The proposed system is designed for deployment in demanding real-world environments with extremely narrow passages only sligh
We provide a complex software package allowing the user to deploy multiple ionizing radiation sources and detectors modeled after the Timepix miniature pixel detector. The software is provided to the community as open-source, and allows preliminary testing and method development even without a pixel
This letter presents an approach for accurately dropping a relatively large amount of fire retardant, water or some other extinguishing agent onto a wildfire from an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), in close proximity to the epicenter of the fire. The proposed approach involves a risky mane
Autonomous Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) have the potential to assist in real-life tasks involving grasping and transportation, but not before solving several difficult research challenges. In this work, we address the design, control, estimation, and planning problems for cooperative localization, g