STTR Phase I: Video Transmission Through Underwater Wireless Links

这一小型企业技术转让第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是在需要空中和水下作业的应用中的使能能力。空中-水下无人机是第一批可以在空中飞行、在水中游泳、在空中和水之间快速过渡的无人机。该项目旨在通过水声通信为无人机配备视频传输能力，使无人机在水下操作时不需要捆绑。凭借使能能力，无人机在关键基础设施测绘、沿海环境监测、应急响应、海岸监视以及搜救行动中非常有用。水下视频传输技术也可以应用于其他平台，延伸水下无线和移动互联网。反过来，这种能力又有可能实现水下物联网。该项目的商业潜力解决了现有产品的痛点：数据速率低和外形尺寸大。增强型无人机将使混合动力飞行器创造一个自主水下机器人(AUV)或无人驾驶航空系统(UAS)无法服务的新市场。这个小型企业技术转移(STTR)第一阶段项目将为空中-水下无人机设计并制作一个小型声学通信系统，使它们能够在水下无线链路上实现高数据率视频传输。所提出的水声通信系统的智能优点包括：1)在嵌入式图形处理单元(GPU)上实时实现了新型的MIMO(多输入多输出)发射机，使得系统可以由电池供电并适合于小的防水容器；2)基于现场可编程门阵列(FPGA)平台的Turbo均衡接收机的实时硬件实现，以对抗水声信道的巨大的多普勒扩展和长多径回波；3)在水声链路上通过超过300kbps的高信息数据速率传输视频，4)将小型声发射器与空中-水下无人机集成，而不干扰无人机的操作。这一裁决反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is the enabling capabilities in applications that call for both in-air and underwater operations. The aerial-underwater drones are the first drones that can fly in air, swim in water, and transition swiftly between air and water. This project aims to equip the drones with video transmission capabilities through underwater acoustic communication so that the drone need not be tethered to operate underwater. With the enabling capabilities, the drone is useful in critical infrastructure mapping, coastal environment monitoring, emergency response, coastal surveillance, and search and rescue operations. The underwater video transmission technology can also be applied to other platforms to extend underwater wireless and mobile internet. The capability, in turn, has the potential to enable Internet of Underwater Things. The commercial potential of the project addresses the pain points of the existing products: the low data rate and large form factor. The enhanced drone will enable the hybrid vehicle to create a new market that is unserved by either Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) or Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs).This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will design and prototype a small form factor acoustic communication system for aerial-underwater drones enabling them to achieve high data-rate video transmission over underwater wireless links. The intellectual merits of the proposed acoustic communication system include: 1) real-time hardware implementation of a novel MIMO (multiple-input-multiple-output) transmitter on an embedded GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) such that the system can be powered by battery and be fit in a small water-proof container, 2) real-time hardware implementation of a Turbo equalization receiver on an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) platform to combat the huge Doppler spread and long multipath echoes of acoustic channels, 3) video transmission by a high information data rate of more than 300 kbps over underwater acoustic links, and 4) integration of the small form factor acoustic transmitter with the aerial-underwater drones without interfering with the operation of the drones.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.