CPS: Medium: Reconfigurable Aerial Power-Efficient Interconnected Imaging and Detection (RAPID) Cyber-Physical System

每天都有越来越多的自然或人为的有害事件发生，这需要精确的监测、控制/管理和预防。否则，它们会迅速演变成不可预测的事件，造成重大损失，如汽车交通堵塞的延误，人为事故或爆炸造成无辜公民生命的灾难性破坏，制造工厂故障或缺陷造成的经济和工业损失，以及干旱、野火和洪水造成的自然资源损失。第一响应者处于应对这些事件的第一线，他们的安全面临重大风险，而他们行动的有效性和效率也可能需要改进，以彻底结束事件或防止事件的发展。为了进一步协助一线救援人员，避免事故造成的损害，本研究提出了一种配备新型传感和成像技术的无人机合作网络，通过在短时间内与一线救援人员共享信息，获取关键信息，为一线救援人员的安全和更成功的行动提供帮助。无人机还可以通过从难以进入的环境（如非城市地区和具有极端条件的环境，如高温/海拔）获取信息来协助第一响应者。该研究旨在研究和实现一种可重新配置的、空中的、节能的、互联的成像和检测（RAPID） CPS，该CPS可以根据受影响区域的跨度、特征尺寸和监测各种事件所需的分辨率自适应调整其配置和性能（例如，代理的三维位置、空间感知分辨率）。为实现上述目标，本文开展了三个相互关联且具有以下智力优势的研究方向：(1)设计和优化所提出的CPS的协调移动策略和控制，以保持无人机的高分辨率传感和连通性；(2)设计空中通信网络，实现协同传感/通信，开发每架无人机的功率优化速率可控无线系统，在网络agent和物理agent之间交换获取的图像数据，跟踪无人机在网络中的位置；(3)设计嵌入在飞行传感器代理中的双模传感融合，包括用于检测移动/隐藏物体和结构缺陷的新型低功耗、高分辨率毫米波成像模块和用于检测高温辐射的红外热像仪。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

A growing number of natural or man-made detrimental incidents occur every day, which mandate precise monitoring, control/management, and prevention. Otherwise, they can rapidly evolve to turn into unpredictable events with significant losses such as delays of automotive traffics jams, catastrophic devastation assuming lives of innocent citizens as in man-made incidents or explosions, financial and industrial losses as in the case of malfunction or defects in manufacturing plants, and loss of natural resources as in the case of droughts, wildfires, and floods. First responders are at the frontline of counteractions against these incidents with their safety being at a major risk, while the effectiveness and efficiency of their actions may also need improvement for complete closure of the event or prevention of its growth. To further assist the first responders and disallowing the damage due to an incident, this research proposes a cooperative network of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that are equipped with novel sensing and imaging technologies and can obtain critical information for the safe and more successful operation of first responders by sharing information with them in a short span of time. The UAVs can also assist the first responders by obtaining information from environments that are hard to access such as non-urban areas and environments with extreme conditions e.g., high temperature/elevation. The proposed research aims to investigate and realize a re-configurable, aerial, power-efficient, interconnected imaging, and detection (RAPID) CPS that can adaptively tune its configuration and performance (e.g., three-dimensional position of agents, spatial sensing resolution) with respect to the span of impacted area, feature size, and necessary resolution to monitor various incidents. To achieve these goals, three interrelated research thrusts with the following intellectual merits are pursued: (1) design and optimization of coordinated mobility strategies and control for the proposed CPS so as to maintain high-resolution sensing and connectivity of the drones; (2) design of an aerial communication network to realize cooperative sensing/communication and develop power-optimized rate-controllable wireless system per each UAV to exchange acquired image data between cyber and physical agents and track the position of UAVs in the network; and (3) design of a dual-mode sensing fusion embedded within a flying sensor agent comprising a novel low-power, high-resolution mm-wave imaging module to detect mobile/hidden objects and structural defects, and an infra-red (IR) thermal camera to detect high-temperature radiations.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.