Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming more and more relevant on the world stage. A research scientist from the Applied Physics Lab (APL), Jay Moore, came to Homewood to talk about a project he and several others have been working on, discussing their work with an audience of engineers in Gilman Hall this past Tuesday evening.
When one hears of UAVs, the first thing that probably comes to mind is the military application of the machine. While it is certainly true that aircraft, such as the MQ-1 Predator, have been used in the past several years for military operations that have included armed reconnaissance and air support roles, the aircraft discussed during Moore's presentation is designed for a much wider set of operations.
A type of UAV testing platform, called the Unicorn, is a foam wing airplane that can be launched simply by throwing the craft in a balanced manner. Each Unicorn is equipped with cameras, wireless communication and enough processing power to handle the information being gathered and distributed. The aim of this project from the APL is to create a system of autonomous, information gathering aircrafts that can supply real-time data to the users.
This system could lead to a wide range of applications, both civilian and military. For example, oil or gas pipelines could be monitored or checked in the event that there is a leak or damage.
The concept of ‘swarming' UAVs has become more popular in recent years due to the advantages presented in data gathering and recon. Moore spoke of the stigmergic potential fields that are the key to the autonomous nature of the project's research aircraft.
Stigmergic potential fields, in the most basic terms, are a system of uphill and downhill potentials that guide the UAVs to their destination. Uphill potentials are avoided by the aircrafts detection systems, and downhill potentials are sought after. Objects in the terrain that would be thought of as ‘uphill' would be things such as towers, hills and buildings — pretty much anything that the vehicle might collide with. By avoiding these, the UAV can stay in a clean flight path and remain autonomous without having to have anyone guide it.
If the vehicle is commanded to hone in and search for the source of, let's say a radio signal, then that signal will become an attractive, ‘downhill' force. Once reaching a target, the drone will try to get as close as operational parameters will allow, while maintaining orbit around the target.
Development of unmanned vehicles like these small Unicorns is part of a movement to develop large numbers of cheap, cost effective recon aircraft. Perhaps the most valuable asset these machines have is their autonomous nature.
Moore emphasized the importance of developing these vehicles, while keeping in mind that they needed to be able "to do the right thing with minimal input." The benefits would be enormous, particularly in civilian safety and rescue operations. UAVs like these could be used to monitor natural disaster areas, apartment fires, search operations and many other things. Finding a lost person in the wilderness might not be nearly so difficult if a dozen sets of eyes could be employed to monitor various sectors of the forest.
Military applications are also easy to note. If a soldier can communicate with a system of UAVs in the sky above a battlefield, he might know that there is a squad of enemies over the next ridge. It would go beyond giving soldiers eyes on the backs of their heads.
The wireless communication systems that the drones employ are also a tremendous asset. Using these systems, drones can work in tandem, pooling their information and maintaining the ‘best beliefs' known of their current situation. In other words, if drone A picks up on an obstacle or threat in sector A, then the other five drones working alongside it will add that knowledge to their systems.
If something changes about that obstacle and one of the drones note it, then the information will be renewed throughout the system as well. What if wireless communication is lost between drones at different places in the field? Or communication is lost due to terrain interference between the command center and the drones?
The great thing about the system is that there is a way to avoid these situations. The drones are capable of forming a ‘bucket brigade' system of information. Let's say the UAVs are surveying a town and there is a mountain blocking communication between their location and the central command. The aircraft will form a line out to the point where communication is re-established and maximize the quality of the signal amongst themselves at the same time. As a result, one or two aircrafts can carry out the recon operation, while the rest of the craft act as communication hubs.
Real-life applications of these UAVs are still a little ways off, at the very least. People will want to see that the crafts are reliable and operate safely in an autonomous manner. It will also be important for civilians to have a say in what happens. These systems could potentially be seen as a means for the government to keep a closer eye on the populace. There are also concerns as to whether or not autonomous weapons platforms would ever be implemented.
There are a lot of moral and ethical question regarding these concerns, but they won't become relevant to projects like these until the technology itself is ready to be used. Similar to most great technologies, there are pros and cons to their usage.
"We're going to get there eventually — for styrofoam vehicles like these, we can get there more quickly," Moore said. This is an important developing technology and will likely become more relevant as time progresses.
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