Cooperative control of heterogeneous robotic systems

Abstract 

Establishing a cooperative heterogeneous robotic system comprising autonomous vehicles operating in air, on ground and on/under water is a challenging task that can significantly contribute solving complex problems related to environmental monitoring (e.g. prediction, prevention and recovery from natural disasters) and security (e.g. border control, fight against terrorism). This paper presents a short overview of a project that involves cooperative control of heterogeneous robotic systems at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing. An overview of the vehicles to be used in the heterogeneous systems is given and the envisioned scenario of neutralization of suspicious underwater objects is presented. Tasks of each vehicle are described and emphasis is placed on the actions and communication routes that are required to ensure cooperative behavio

 

1. Excellence

Labust builds upon its accomplishments during multiple projects using unmanned surface vehicles (PlaTyPus) and in cooperation with its partners to design a system of cooperative control of heterogeneous robots using a surface vehicle, flying drone (ArduCopter), and a ground vehicle (Guardian).

2. Impact

While individual robotic systems today successfully perform complex tasks in their medium, activities through all three media are imposed by industrial needs as well as in seven societal challenges defined by the European Commission within the Horizon 2020 programme, specifically in the areas of:

 

1. environment: prediction, prevention and recovery from natural disasters; development of systems for global surveillance and informing about the state of the environment, and

2. security and protection: fight against crime and terrorism; strengthening security through border control; increasing resilience in cases of crisis and disasters

 

3. Implementation - Goals and Achievements

Simulations of multiple different goals were created as was the primary goal od this project. For example The USV mission states were comprised of the following elementary maneouvres: dynamic positioning (DP), heading control, and line following as can be seen in the video below.