I-Corps: Autonomous Indoor Blimps as Data Terminal for Internet of Things

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是为室内环境提供有效的航空遥感解决方案。持续的环境监测、基础设施检查和安全监控对于大型室内设施提供安全和舒适至关重要。现有的航空遥感解决方案主要用于户外应用。由于飞行时间短、令人不安的噪音水平和安全问题，它们不适合人类占据的室内环境。这项拟议的技术是基于专门设计的机器人飞艇，这种飞艇飞行时间长，声音轮廓安静，碰撞安全。这项技术可能会填补室内航空传感的市场空缺。除了室内航空传感外，机器人飞艇还可以作为研究和教学工具推广给对人类友好的飞行机器人进行室内实验的研究人员、教师、学生和业余爱好者。这种机器人飞艇还可以扩展为老年人的伴侣机器人，或者儿童的智能玩具。这个i-Corps项目探索了一种围绕机器人软式飞艇开发的航空传感解决方案的商业潜力。软式飞艇装有充氦信封，可以安全地在人与人之间飞行。氦气体产生的浮力有助于降低软式飞艇的电力消耗，使其能够安静地运行数小时。气球飞艇独特的空气动力学形状确保了室内环境的高度机动性。软式飞艇代表了机电设计、移动传感器网络和控制系统方面的研究努力的集成。气球飞艇已经成功地用于支持由美国国家科学基金会拨款支持的广泛研究，包括室内风场测绘、蜂群控制和人-机器人交互。软式飞艇的基本功能稳定可靠，已准备好过渡到商业化阶段。通过这项i-Corps计划，团队将更好地了解该发明的市场规模、客户需求和商业化可行性。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to provide effective aerial sensing solution for indoor environments. Persistent environmental monitoring, infrastructure inspection, and security surveillance are essential for large indoor facilities to provide safety and comfort. Existing aerial sensing solutions are mainly for outdoor applications. They are not suitable for human-occupied indoor environments due to short flight duration, disturbing noise level, and safety concerns. The proposed technology is based on specially designed robotic blimps that offer long flight duration, quiet sound profile, and safety for collision. The technology can potentially fill the market vacancy for indoor aerial sensing. In addition to indoor aerial sensing, the robotic blimps can also be marketed as a research and teaching tool for researchers, teachers, students, and hobbyists who are interested in performing indoor experiments on human friendly flying robots. The robotic blimps may also be extended to serve as companion robots for the elderly, or as intelligent toys for children. This I-Corps project explores the commercial potential of an aerial sensing solution that is developed around a robotic blimp. The blimp is cushioned with Helium-filled envelope, and can fly safely among people. Buoyancy from the Helium gas helps reduce the power consumption of the blimp, enabling it to operate quietly for hours. Unique aerodynamic shape of the blimp ensures high maneuverability in indoor environments. The blimp represents an integration of research efforts in mechatronic design, mobile sensor networks, and control systems. The blimps have been successfully employed to support a broad spectrum of research supported by NSF grants, including indoor wind field mapping, swarming control, and human-robot interactions. The basic functionalities of the blimp are stable and reliable, ready to be transitioned into the commercialization stage. Through this I-Corps program, the team will develop better understanding of market scale, customer needs, and commercialization feasibility of the invention.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.