Real time optimization of hybrid UAV’s flight path for road infrastructure monitoring
Programming skill is also mandatory (Python, Matlab or C++).
Ms. Sofia Tilon (advisor).
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) provide excellent opportunities for more efficient and detailed infrastructure monitoring. A hybrid UAV is a combination of a Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) UAV and a fixed wing UAV. A hybrid UAV allows for the inspection of long stretches of road surface, and in addition the inspection of vertical structures in a single flight. So far, these monitoring operations are planned in advance according to a fix flight path. However, monitoring objectives in operational conditions may change according to whatever object of interest is found. For example, imagine an earthquake resulting in a post disaster scenario. Before planning your flight path, the location of earthquake related damages is unknown. Upon encountering a damage, you might want to inspect the damage more closely. This can be achieved with a hybrid UAV by changing from fixed wing to VTOl mode or visa-versa.
The aim of this MSc topic is to implement a real time UAV flight path updating algorithm. The goal is to develop an optimized procedure to re-plan on the fly the sequence of images that have to be acquired.
The student should first conduct a literature review on general flight planning, giving particular attention the the vast literature on next-best-view. The student will then implement an algorithm that allows the flight path to be updated according to changing monitoring objectives. In this work, the student should consider the overall monitoring objective, functional limitations of the UAV, the trade of between information quality and changing monitoring objectives. The algorithm should be sufficiently efficient to work in (near) real time, outputting interactively the new planned positions of the images. If successful, the algorithm will be embedded on the available hybrid drone of ITC and several tests will be performed on some test locations.