RAPID: Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Increased Autonomy to Improve an Unmanned Marine Vehicle Lifeguard Assistant Robot

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NSF 1637214 RAPID: Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Increased Autonomy to Improve an Unmanned Marine Vehicle Lifeguard Assistant RobotThe United States is at risk for a mass marine casualty event, such as the Costa Concordia, or MV Sewol ferry sinking, but fortunately robots, such as the EMILY tele-operated unmanned marine surface vehicle (USV) can assist as mobile life preservers. EMILYs are now in use by the Hellenic Coast Guard and Red Cross throughout Greece. The responders have requested that EMILY navigate autonomously so that a lifeguard could designate a cluster of people in the water and then EMILY would autonomously drive to the victims in the water who would grab, hold, and wait while the human lifeguards focused on other people needing immediate assistance due to unconsciousness, risk of hypothermia (especially children), or high distress. Prof. Robin Murphy will engage 44 graduate and undergraduates in implementing an upgrade to EMILY so that it can use the view from a small tethered UAV combined with onboard thermal sensing to autonomously navigate to a cluster of people. The project will bring 11 of these US students to Greece for two field research expeditions to work with lifeguard teams actively responding to the shifting, but ongoing, patterns of boat refugees. The students will participate in two international workshops. The National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) is a partner in this research activity, and will be providing thermal imaging expertise. The project will introduce the students to participatory research with international collaborators in Greece, and train them to be technically competitive in an innovative, global workplace. It will potentially save lives in Greece and Europe, and ultimately contribute more effectively in search-and-rescue missions in the U.S. This 9-month project will involve 5 graduate students and 39 undergraduates in field robotics research. The students will address how to navigate and reach poses in waves and surf with a non-holonomic, under-actuated marine vehicle that cannot back up, has momentum, and a limited turning radius. They will employ known behavioral sensor fusion methods for reliable and efficient navigation targeting people using thermal imagery. They will collect data from the smart EMILY in the field with responders in uncontrolled weather and waves and make additional rounds of appropriate improvements and evaluation. Finally, the project will produce a longitudinal case study of how to work with users. The research will advance the theory of intelligent robotics-- especially interoperable and reliable computer systems, unmanned marine systems in shallow littoral operations, tethered unmanned aerial systems, heterogeneous teams, and human-robot interaction-- by implementing and field testing promising algorithms and known principles. The participating American students will be globally competitive, the data will give US companies a competitive edge, and the project will serve the use of autonomous systems in accordance with US and international regulations.This grant was funded by NSF Directorate of Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE), and Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE).