Cooperative Control of Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles for Wildfire Management

野火监测和扑救需要近乎实时的关于野火在哪里蔓延以及如何蔓延的信息，以便有效地规划和执行应急战略。现有的基于卫星的野火探测成像方法可能不足以提供所需的关于动态火线蔓延的实时信息。此外，通过飞行员进行的火情检查可能会使飞行员处于危险之中，或者操作可能会受到资源或天气条件的限制。随着无人驾驶车辆系统(UVS)技术的最新发展，世界各地的研究人员一直在探索使用无人驾驶车辆(通常包括无人驾驶飞行器(UAV)和地面车辆(UGV))来提供实时野火监控。 在这项拟议的研究中，我们的目标是开发一种新的策略，通过飞行一队无人机编队并与UGV协调，在线绘制动态火力前线。此外，UGV还被部署在无人机的指导下执行搜索和救援等保护任务。预期的研究贡献包括火力前线的在线测绘(估计)、自主飞行和跟踪、无人机/UGV之间的协同控制和任务分配，以及协同优化和通信。 森林和森林资源是加拿大人生活中不可或缺的一部分。加拿大拥有世界上约10%的森林。在过去十年中，每年大约发生7400起森林火灾。每年烧毁的总面积差别很大，但平均每年约为190万公顷。(来源：加拿大林业局)在这项拟议的研究计划中，我们努力为野火的研究和管理做出重大贡献。

Wildfire monitoring and fighting requires near real-time information on where and how wildfires spread in order to effectively plan and execute emergency response strategies. Existing satellite-based imaging methods of wildfire detection may not be sufficient enough to provide the required real time information on the spread of dynamic fire fronts. Also, the fire situation inspection through piloted aviation may put pilots at risk, or the operations maybe limited by the resources or weather conditions. With recent developments in unmanned vehicle systems (UVS) technology, researchers around the world have been exploring the use of unmanned vehicles, often including both unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and ground vehicles (UGVs), to provide real-time wildfire monitoring. In this proposed research, we aim at developing a novel strategy for online mapping of dynamic fire fronts by flying a fleet of UAVs in formation and in coordination with UGVs. In addition, UGVs are deployed to perform protection tasks, such as search and rescue, under the guidance of UAVs. Expected research contributions include the online mapping (estimation) of fire front lines, autonomous flight and tracking, cooperative control and task allocation among UAVs/UGVs, as well as cooperative optimization and communication. "Forests and forest resources are integral to Canadian life. Canada has about 10% of the world's forests. Each year over the last decade, about 7400 forest fires have occurred. The total area burned varies widely from year to year, but averages about 1.9 million hectares annually." (source: Canadian Forest Service) In this proposed research program, we endeavor to make significant contributions to the wildfire research and management.