Collaborative Research: CPS: Medium: Enabling Autonomous, Persistent, and Adaptive Mobile Observational Networks Through Energy-Aware Dynamic Coverage

这项研究将创建和验证优化管理移动观测网络的新方法，该方法由可再生能源的“主机”代理和“卫星”代理组成，这些代理从主机部署并由主机充电。这样的网络可以实现对气象、气候变化、侦察和监测应用的自主、长期测量，这些应用具有重大的国家利益。虽然存在这种网络的硬件，但绝大多数现有的任务规划和控制办法将能源视为有限资源，并侧重于有限持续时间的任务。这项研究将代表一种范式转变，即网络可用的能源是可再生的，但即时可用的电力是有限的。这就需要不断地权衡能源采集和科学信息收集的策略。这项研究将为管理上述权衡建立一个全面的框架，包括基于模拟和实验的演示。这项工作中考虑的具体观测框架将涉及一支由太阳能自主水面舰艇、无人驾驶的飞行器和海底滑翔机组成的舰队，以确定北卡罗来纳州外滩附近深海和近岸水域之间大气和海洋相互作用的特征。这项研究将与有针对性的实习活动、北卡罗来纳州立大学工程地点的K-12外展活动以及底特律地区大学预科工程项目的外展活动相补充。在观测网络中融合自主性、持久性和适应性要求在网络信息量和物理能量量之间进行正式的表征和权衡。具体地说，使用可再生能源的主机代理，能量不再是硬约束；相反，在随机环境中获取信息和使用可用的车载能量之间存在永久的权衡。为解决这一问题，研究小组将创建：(1)科学定制的动态覆盖模型，用于描述信息特征；(2)统计能源资源/消耗模型；(3)根据信息/能源权衡调整特派团概况的多级预测控制器。主机控制器将最大化一个由两部分组成的目标函数，该目标函数由有限范围覆盖总和和终端激励组成，该目标函数基于一个被称为“能量的信息价值”的新量。这个主控制器将由一系列卫星能量感知覆盖控制器来补充，这些控制器在随机资源中满足安全交会要求的情况下最大限度地实现覆盖。这项研究将在三个日益复杂的平台上进行验证--无人驾驶飞行器(UAV)网络(实验)、太阳能自主水面舰艇(ASV)/无人机组合网络(实验)和ASV/USV/海底滑翔机组合网络(模拟驱动)。该奖项反映了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。

This research will create and validate new approaches for optimally managing mobile observational networks consisting of a renewably powered “host” agent and “satellite” agents that are deployed from and recharged by the host. Such networks can enable autonomous, long-term measurements for meteorological, climate change, reconnaissance, and surveillance applications, which are of significant national interest. While the hardware exists for such networks, the vast majority of existing mission planning and control approaches treat energy as a finite resource and focus on finite-duration missions. This research will represent a paradigm shift, wherein the energy resource available to the network is renewable, but the instantaneously available power is limited. This demands strategies that continuously trade off energy harvesting and scientific information gathering. This research will establish a comprehensive framework for managing the aforementioned tradeoffs, with both simulation-based and experimental demonstrations. The specific observational framework considered in this work will involve a fleet of solar-powered autonomous surface vessels, unoccupied aerial vehicles, and undersea gliders to for characterizing atmospheric and oceanic interactions between the deep-ocean and near-shore waters adjacent to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The research will be complemented with targeted internship activities, K-12 outreach activities at The Engineering Place at NC State, and outreach activities with the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program.Fusing autonomy, persistence, and adaptation in observational networks demands a formal characterization and tradeoff between the cyber quantity of information and physical quantity of energy. Specifically, with a renewably powered host agent, energy no longer serves as a hard constraint; instead, there exists a perpetual tradeoff between the acquisition of information and the use of available on-board energy in a stochastic environment. To address this, the research team will create: (i) a scientifically tailored dynamic coverage model for information characterization, (ii) a statistical energy resource/consumption model, and (iii) a multi-level predictive controller that adapts the mission profile based on the information/energy tradeoff. The host controller will maximize a two-part objective function consisting of a finite-horizon coverage summation and terminal incentive based on a novel quantity termed the “information value of energy.” This host controller will be complemented by a series of satellite energy-aware coverage controllers that maximize coverage subject to a safe rendezvous requirement in a stochastic resource. The research will be validated across three platforms of increasing complexity – an unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) network (experimental), a combined solar-powered autonomous surface vessel (ASV)/UAV network (experimental), and a combined ASV/USV/undersea glider network (simulation-driven).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.