PFI (MCA): Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Remote Sensing of the Arctic

PFI (MCA)：用于北极遥感的自主无人机

• 批准号: 2219008
• 负责人: Christopher Richards
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: University of Louisville Research Foundation Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2219008&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PFI; MCA; Autonomous; Unmanned; Aerial

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Mid-Career Advancement (PFI (MCA)) project is to increase the capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for remote sensing in the Arctic so that vegetation data, which can provide valuable insights into Arctic warming and global climate change, can be collected more readily. The proposed research may result in the development of a flight control method for autonomously flying UAVs over a heterogeneous, vegetation-populated terrain in search of select plant species, and a control method that enables flight in the challenging wind conditions often found in the Arctic. Outcomes from the research seek to benefit the study of the Arctic by increasing opportunities for UAV remote sensor campaigns and their efficient execution. Integrated research, teaching, and outreach activities will be carried out through affiliations with university institutes that foster multidisciplinary collaboration among engineering and other STEM departments, and through collaborations with scholarly organizations that serve currently underrepresented populations. Engagement with industry and federal research agencies will allow technology commercialization for UAV-based Arctic research, agricultural monitoring, and wildfire fighting. The proposed project seeks to advance UAV capabilities by providing solutions to practical problems that limit their use for remote sensing of the Arctic. Propellers used to control UAV flight are limited in the forces they can produce. If the vehicle’s flight control system requests forces that exceed such limits, undesirable flight performance that jeopardizes the mission may occur. Therefore, deployment of UAVs in the Arctic is currently restricted to infrequent periods when mild winds exist. Likewise, remote sensing by UAV is limited by finite battery life and the need for consistent illumination periods. The goals of the project are to increase periods for remote sensing by providing stable UAV flight during stronger wind conditions and to enable UAVs to collect plant species data autonomously and efficiently. Research objectives include: (a) design of a novel anti-windup compensator that mitigates the effects of propeller saturation enabling UAV operation in challenging wind conditions, (b) development of a reinforcement learning-based autonomous guidance method that searches for specific plant species located in heterogeneous vegetation terrains, and (c) experimental validation of the flight control system with an UAV operating in an Arctic analogous environment.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.

这一创新伙伴关系-中期职业发展（PFI（MCA））项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是提高无人驾驶航空器在北极进行遥感的能力，以便更容易地收集植被数据，这些数据可以为北极变暖和全球气候变化提供有价值的见解。拟议的研究可能会导致开发一种飞行控制方法，用于在异质的植被覆盖的地形上自主飞行无人机，以寻找选定的植物物种，以及一种控制方法，使飞行能够在北极经常发现的具有挑战性的风力条件下进行。该研究的成果旨在通过增加无人机遥感器活动及其有效执行的机会来促进北极研究。综合研究，教学和外展活动将通过与大学机构的联系，促进工程和其他STEM部门之间的多学科合作，并通过与学术组织的合作，为目前代表性不足的人群提供服务。与工业界和联邦研究机构的合作将使基于无人机的北极研究、农业监测和野火扑救的技术商业化。拟议的项目旨在通过提供限制其用于北极遥感的实际问题的解决方案来提高无人机的能力。 用于控制无人机飞行的螺旋桨在它们所能产生的力方面是有限的。如果飞行器的飞行控制系统要求的力超过这样的限制，则可能发生危及使命的不期望的飞行性能。因此，在北极部署无人机目前仅限于微风存在的罕见时期。同样，无人机的遥感也受到有限电池寿命和持续照明时间的限制。 该项目的目标是通过在强风条件下提供稳定的无人机飞行来增加遥感时间，并使无人机能够自主有效地收集植物物种数据。研究目标包括：（a）设计一种新型抗饱和补偿器，该补偿器减轻螺旋桨饱和的影响，使无人机能够在具有挑战性的风力条件下运行，（B）开发一种基于强化学习的自主制导方法，该方法搜索位于异质植被地形中的特定植物物种，以及（c）在类似北极的环境中，对无人机的飞行控制系统进行实验验证。该合同反映了NSF的法定使命并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。