Abstract:
Autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems have broad applications in surveillance, disaster management, and search and rescue (SAR) operations. Field deployments o...Show MoreMetadata
Abstract:
Autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems have broad applications in surveillance, disaster management, and search and rescue (SAR) operations. Field deployments of intelligent multi-UAV systems are heavily constrained by available power and networking capabilities, and limited computational processing resources which are needed to reduce large volumes of on-board sensor data in real-time. In this work, we design a WearAble Super-Computing Platform (WASP) to address such challenges associated with multi-UAV deployments in remote field environments based on a human-in-the-loop (HITL) design. The WASP system is an advanced edge computing instrument designed from commodity embedded processing devices interconnected through an on-board Ethernet network. Networking is further extended through wireless networking capabilities to communicate with UAVs. Computational workloads and storage are orchestrated as discrete containers across WASP and the UAVs, which accounts for processor heterogeneity and time-varying workloads that must adapt dynamically to account for unpredictable failures of wireless networking in the field. We use our prototype to demonstrate advantages in terms of power management, redundancy, robustness, and human-robot collaboration in challenging field environments.
Date of Conference: 20-24 September 2021
Date Added to IEEE Xplore: 01 December 2021
ISBN Information: