STTR Phase I: Collaborative Relative Navigation System for Autonomous UAV Following

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is in the increased safety and efficiency of public safety operations in law enforcement, search-and-rescue, and firefighting throughout the U.S. as the personal UAVs operate autonomously alongside users regardless of the operating environment. Even small public safety entities will be able to acquire and operate such systems as skilled and dedicated operators will not be necessary, dramatically decreasing the cost of UAV operations. Aerial support will no longer be limited to large public safety jurisdictions, but will be made available at low-cost nationwide, with the information provided directly to the individual responder. In the technology area of robotics and assistive technologies, personal UAVs that can autonomously follow mobile users and objects is a transformative technology with applicability that goes far beyond public safety operations. It has direct applicability to autonomous aerial delivery, videography for amateur and professional athletes, cinematography, heavy industry (e.g., mining), and infrastructure inspection. These markets are expected to grow to hundreds of millions of dollars within the next few years. This STTR project will provide the reliable GPS-independent relative navigation and obstacle avoidance capabilities necessary to unleash these applications.This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of an innovative collaborative relative navigation system (CORENav) enabling small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to autonomously follow and relay real-time information to ground personnel with multiple sensors as they maneuver indoors and outdoors, in wide-open or confined spaces, by day or night. The personal UAVs will carry a variety of payloads (e.g., electro optical/thermal imaging cameras) and broadcast raw and/or processed information in real time to the individual they support, providing individualized local aerial support that will radically improve the safety and efficiency of all response operations. CORENav addresses the navigation, guidance and control challenges posed by operating UAVs autonomously close to the ground and relative to mobile users. This technology enables small UAVs to accurately solve for position, orientation, velocity, and acceleration relative to their user regardless of the operating environment. It also fully addresses the obstacle detection and avoidance challenge, even for small UAVs with limited payload capacity. The UAV will operate completely autonomously so the user can remain mission-focused, while receiving critical real-time information through local aerial sensing.