Sensing for Information Driven Exploration Systems (SIDES)

在该项目中，将为信息驱动的自主探索系统（MIDAS）中的绘图开发基础科学和技术。这种系统在动态的、空间分布的、不确定的和危险的环境中运行，在这些环境中可能不希望有人在场。 例如，建筑物/森林火灾应急系统、矿山安全、环境监测和结构健康监测等。这些系统包括多个传感器，无论是在现场或安装在移动的机器人平台，其目标是探索和映射的空间分布的环境中，他们在实时操作，使有关环境的信息内容最大化。在这个项目中，计算效率高的技术，有保证的性能，将被开发来解决动态空间场的映射问题。 这些成果将包括一套用于映射问题的算法，包括软件，与此相关的研究出版物，工程学生教育，以及高中教师的工程研究教育。如果成功，这项工作的后果是多方面的，非常重要：据预测，这些研究结果将具有从自主机器人探索到国土安全的应用范围，同时还将导致发现基础科学和技术的融合估计理论和计算智能。特别是，应用于野火预测问题可以避免价值数十亿美元的财产损失，如最近的野火所证明的。将为平板电脑和智能手机开发一个“应用程序”，以解决手持智能手机上的在线地图绘制问题，这可能为这种情况下的第一反应者提供一个宝贵的工具。K-12/本科生/研究生和高中教师在与研究相关的项目中的同化将向广泛的受众传播项目的结果，并有助于引起对科学和工程的兴趣。

In this project, fundamental science and technology will be developed for Mapping in Information Driven Autonomous Exploration Systems (MIDAS). Such systems operate in dynamic, spatially distributed, uncertain and hazardous environments where human presence may be undesirable. Examples are emergency response systems to building/forest fires, mine safety, environmental monitoring and structural health monitoring among many others. These systems consist of multiple sensors either in-situ or mounted on mobile robotic platforms whose objective is to explore and map the spatially distributed environments they operate within in real-time such that the information content regarding the environment is maximized. In this project, computationally efficient techniques, with guaranteed performance, will be developed to solve the mapping problem for dynamical spatial fields. Deliverables will include a suite of algorithms for the mapping problem including software, research publications pertaining to the same, engineering student education, and engineering research education for high school teachers.If successful, the ramifications of this work are many folds and highly significant: it is anticipated that the results will have applications ranging from autonomous robotic exploration to homeland security while leading to the discovery of fundamental science and technology at the confluence of estimation theory and computational intelligence. In particular, application to the wildfire prediction problem can avoid the billions of dollars worth of property loss as evidenced in recent wildfires. An "app" for tablets and smartphones will be developed to solve the online mapping problem on a handheld smart phone, which may provide an invaluable tool for first responders in such scenarios. The assimilation of K-12/undergraduate/graduate students, and high school teachers, in projects related to the research will disseminate the results of the project to a broad audience, and help engender interest in science and engineering.