Using an Intelligent UAV Swarm in Natural Disaster Environments

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Asbach ◽  
Souma Chowdhury ◽  
Kemper Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Decentralized Control ◽  
Efficient Method ◽  
Control Method ◽  
Sensor Technology ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Uav Swarm ◽  
The Status

Due to their volatile behavior, natural disasters are challenging problems as they often cannot be accurately predicted. An efficient method to gather updated information of the status of a disaster, such as the location of any trapped survivors, is extremely important to properly conduct rescue operations. To accomplish this, an algorithm is presented to control a swarm of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and optimize the value of the information gathered. For this application, the UAVs are autonomously navigated with a decentralized control method. With sensor technology embedded, this swarm collects information from the environment as it operates. By using the swarm’s location history, areas of the environment that have gone the longest without exploration can be prioritized, ensuring a thorough search. Measures are also developed to prevent redundant or inefficient exploration, which would reduce the value of the gathered information. A case study of a flood scenario is examined and simulated. Through this approach, the value of the proposed swarm algorithm can be tested by tracking the number of survivors found as well as the rate at which they are discovered.

Revealing Safety Risks of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Construction

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110171
Author(s):  
Mostafa Namian ◽  
Mohammad Khalid ◽  
George Wang ◽  
Yelda Turkan
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
The United States ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Safety Risks ◽  
Potential Safety ◽  
Post Hoc

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have gained their prevalent recognition in construction because of their exceptional advantages. Despite the increasing use of UAVs in the industry and their remarkable benefits, there are serious potential safety risks associated that have been overlooked. Construction is one of the most hazardous industries in the United States. In addition to the ordinary hazards normally present in dynamic construction workplaces, UAVs can expose workers to a wider range of never-before-seen safety risks that must be recognized and controlled. The industry is not equipped with safety measures to prevent potential accidents, because of scarce research on drone-associated hazards and risks. The aim of this research was to (1) identify the UAV-associated hazards in construction that may expose personnel and property to potential harms, and (2) study the relative impact of each hazard and the associated safety risks. In Phase I, the researchers conducted an extensive literature review and consulted with a construction UAV expert. In Phase II, the researchers obtained data from 54 construction experts validating and evaluating the identified hazards and risks. The results revealed that adopting UAVs can expose construction projects to a variety of hazards that the industry is not familiar with. “Collision with properties,”“collision with humans,” and “distraction” were identified as the top three safety risks. Moreover, the study introduces effective strategies, such as having qualified crew members, proper drone model selection, and drone maintenance, to mitigate the safety risks. Finally, a post-hoc case study was investigated and presented in this article.

New Solutions and Methodologies for Data Acquisition and Management in Small Municipalities

2021 ◽  
pp. 103-123
Author(s):  
Rui Pedro Juliao ◽  
Amilton Amorim ◽  
João Paulo Hespanha ◽  
Guilherme Henrique Barros de Souza ◽  
Ronaldo Celso Messias Correia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Acquisition ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Domain Model ◽  
Territorial Development ◽  
Paulo State ◽  
Land Administration ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Data Infrastructures

Promoting and managing sustainable territorial development require adequate tools that enable territorial managers to formulate appropriate choices. Technological solutions have emerged, and the paradigm has shifted from isolated GIS to a more collaborative production and dissemination of geographic data using spatial data infrastructures (SDI). A critical dataset for municipal land administration is cadastre. ISO 19152 standard of the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) was published in 2012. Also, technology evolution, namely unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), has changed data acquisition for cadastre. These are three pillars of modern territorial management: openness, co-production, and data sharing (SDI); models (LADM); affordable technology (UAV). This chapter presents how municipalities can develop an SDI project, incorporating LADM guidelines and UAV data acquisition. The case study is based on a group of 32 small municipalities from São Paulo state, in Brazil, known as UNIPONTAL.

Lyapunov vector-based formation tracking control for unmanned aerial vehicles with obstacle/collision avoidance

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 942-950
Author(s):  
Kai Chang ◽  
Dailiang Ma ◽  
Xingbin Han ◽  
Ning Liu ◽  
Pengpeng Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Potential Field ◽  
Formation Control ◽  
Control Method ◽  
Spherical Surface ◽  
Moving Target ◽  
Local Optima ◽  
Formation Tracking ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Repulsive Forces

This paper presents a formation control method to solve the moving target tracking problem for a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The formation is achieved by the artificial potential field with both attractive and repulsive forces, and each UAV in the swarm will be driven into a leader-centered spherical surface. The leader is controlled by the attractive force by the moving target, while the Lyapunov vectors drive the leader UAV to a fly-around circle of the target. Furthermore, the rotational vector-based potential field is applied to achieve the obstacle avoidance of UAVs with smooth trajectories and avoid the local optima problem. The efficiency of the developed control scheme is verified by numerical simulations in four scenarios.

scholarly journals Collecting Built Environment Information Using UAVs: Time and Applicability in Building Inspection Activities

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4731
Author(s):  
Rachele Grosso ◽  
Umberto Mecca ◽  
Giuseppe Moglia ◽  
Francesco Prizzon ◽  
Manuela Rebaudengo
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Construction Sector ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Way Of Thinking

The Italian way of thinking about maintenance is too often one-sided. Indeed, it is considered not so much as a useful practice to prevent the occurrence of a fault (ex ante), but as an intervention to solve it (ex post). Analyzing the legislation relating to the construction sector, it can be seen that it does not clearly define the responsibilities, timescales and methods in which maintenance interventions must be planned and carried out. For this reason, this practice is still very weak compared, for example, to the industrial sector, where it is an established practice. Currently, the complexity of reading the maintenance plans drawn up by designers and the considerable costs associated with maintenance operations discourage owners and managers from even carrying out preliminary inspection operations. This research aims to stimulate these stakeholders to carry out inspection operations regularly, highlighting their costs and benefits. In particular, working on a case study in Piedmont, the costs of visual inspections carried out in the traditional way are compared with those that would be incurred if unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were used. Finally, the collateral benefits of inspections carried out with UAVs are highlighted.

Design of Hospital Delivery Networks Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

2020 ◽  
Vol 2674 (5) ◽  
pp. 405-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Otero Arenzana ◽  
Jose Javier Escribano Macias ◽  
Panagiotis Angeloudis
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Optimal Number ◽  
Baseline Scenario ◽  
Urban Hospital ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Strategic Model ◽  
Delivery Services ◽  
Location Algorithm ◽  
Delivery Networks

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being increasingly implemented in a range of applications. Their low payload capacity and ability to overcome congested road networks enables them to provide fast delivery services for urgent high-value low-volume cargo. This work investigates the economic viability of integrating UAVs into urban hospital supply chains. In doing so, a strategic model that determines the optimal configuration of supporting infrastructure for urgent UAV delivery between hospitals is proposed. The model incorporates a tailored facility location algorithm that selects an optimal number of hubs given a set of candidates and determines the number of UAVs required to fulfill total demand. The objective is to minimize the total cost of implementation, computed as the sum of generalized, battery, vehicle, and hub establishment costs. The model is applied to a case study based on the establishment of a UAV delivery network for deliveries between National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in London. A baseline scenario is also developed using current NHS vehicles for delivery. Results demonstrate that UAV-based delivery provides significant reductions in operational costs compared with the baseline. Furthermore, the analysis indicates the location of hubs is more significant to the solution optimality than any increase in range or payload.

Visual Inspection of Historical Buildings Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV): A Case Study of Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque, Johor

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 2160-2163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masiri Kaamin ◽  
Misbahul Muneer Abd Rahman ◽  
Norhayati Ngadiman ◽  
Aslila Abd Kadir ◽  
Ahmad Hakimi Mat Nor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Visual Inspection ◽  
Historical Buildings ◽  
Aerial Vehicles

scholarly journals Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for Surveying Marine Fauna: A Dugong Case Study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. e79556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Hodgson ◽  
Natalie Kelly ◽  
David Peel
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Marine Fauna ◽  
Aerial Vehicles
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