Projects

An Integrated Framework for Controlled Mobility in Ad Hoc Networks

Sponsor: AFOSR, Software and Systems

This project will develop a framework for controlled mobility in ad-hoc networks that integrates mobility and communication through the systematic combination of distributed cooperative control, resource allocation through reinforcement learning, and fault-tolerant network protocols.

Characterization of Arctic Sea Ice Experiment (CASIE)

Sponsor: NASA

UAS flights using the NASA SIERRA aircraft, operated from Svalbard in the northern Atlantic Ocean, will map sea ice characteristics using a combination of sensors. These include lasers for surface height and ice thickness profiling, digital cameras, synthetic aperture radar, spectrometers and surface temperature sensors.

Mapping of Ice-Ocean-Atmosphere Boundary Layer Conditions in Antarctica

Sponsor: NSF

Long-range UAS flights will be carried out from McMurdo, Antarctica during late winter conditions to study the interactions of winds and temperatures on sea ice formation in coastal areas. Aerosonde aircraft will carry a combination of cameras and meteorogical instruments, along with a laser altimeter for wave height mapping.

Networked System Test Bed Integration and Test

Sponsor: L3-Communications

The University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB) has been engaged by L3-Comcept to study UAV networking concepts. Demonstrations are planned starting in 2008 and culminating in a full exercise in 2009. The demonstrations will build on earlier projects, AUGNet, Networked UAS Sensor Data Collection, and Disruption Tolerant Networks.

RI: Information-theoretic Control of Robotic Sensor Networks

Sponsor: NSF Robust Intelligence Cluster

This project will develop an information-theoretic framework for the planning and control of robotic sensor networks. Concepts from distributed sensor networking, cooperative control, networked communication, sensor fusion, and information theory are combined into a single framework that incorporates both communication and sensing objectives.

Remote Management of a Heterogeneous UAV Team

Sponsor: Raytheon

The objective of this effort is to investigate techniques to manage and control multiple robotic vehicles in dynamic, uncertain environments through an integrated communication, command, and control (C3) infrastructure that combines high-level mission management with onboard UAS flight management and meshed mobile ad-hoc network systems.

Remote Operation of UAS and Technologies for Command, Control, Communication, and Computers

Sponsor: FAA

The goal of the proposed research is to evaluate and categorize C4 (command, communication, control, and compute) methods and technologies used for the operation of remotely-piloted UAS. Information from this research will be relevant for the development of future requirements and standards. Archived flight and communications data from previous AUGNet (Ad hoc UAS and Ground Network) and NetUASC3 (Networked UAS Command, Communications, and Control) experiments will be used to develop the framework for the appropriate technology taxonomy. AUGNet was originally created to examine two mobile ad hoc network communications scenarios. In the first scenario, the UA acts as a prominent radio node that connects disconnected ground radios. In the second, the networking enables groups of UA to communicate with each other to extend the operational scope and range of the overall UAS. The network consists of mesh network nodes assembled from low-cost commercial off-the-shelf components. The radio is an IEEE 802.11b/g (WiFi) wireless interface and is controlled by an embedded computer. The ad hoc routing protocol is an implementation of the Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) protocol using an extensible, modular router framework. The nodes are placed either in an environmental enclosure for outdoor fixed and vehicle mounting or built directly into the custom-made UA. A network monitoring architecture is embedded into the nodes for detailed performance analysis and characterization.

UAS for In-Situ Sensing along Atmospheric Airmass Boundaries

Sponsor: National Science Foundation

We propose to develop a small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) for in-situ atmospheric sampling. The UAS command, communications, control architecture will be based on that developed for the Ares UAS at the University of Colorado’s Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles (RECUV). We propose to demonstrate the mobile in-situ sensing system with an experiment over the Pawnee Grasslands in northeastern Colorado during the summer of 2008. This experiment will combine the proposed UAS with the Colorado State University (CSU) CHILL and Pawnee radars to acquire remote and in-situ data along an atmospheric airmass boundary.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Ground Operations Positioning System

Sponsor: Mosaic ATM (Phase II Air Force SBIR)

The purpose of this effort is to develop and demonstrate vision-based navigation and control for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) during ground airfield operations.

Wing-Integrated Antennas for Unmanned Aircraft

Sponsor: USAF AFRL SBIR, Phase 2, with First RF Corp.

Phase-1 work demonstrated the feasibility for the manufacture of wing-integrated antennas for small UA. The Phase-2 development will focus on the construction of a prototype UA, AresMax that incorporates the RF wing. The AresMax is based on the RECUV Ares airframe. The current wing design increases the 8-ft wing span of the Ares to a 10-ft span for the AresMax.