Abstract
This paper describes a Mission Definition System and the automated flight process it enables to implement measurement plans for discrete infrastructure inspections using aerial platforms, and specifically multi-rotor drones. The mission definition aims at improving planning efficiency with respect to state-of-the-art waypoint-based techniques, using high-level mission definition primitives and linking them with realistic flight models to simulate the inspection in advance. It also provides flight scripts and measurement plans which can be executed by commercial drones. Its user interfaces facilitate mission definition, pre-flight 3D synthetic mission visualisation and flight evaluation. Results are delivered for a set of representative infrastructure inspection flights, showing the accuracy of the flight prediction tools in actual operations using automated flight control.
Highlights
In the last decade, we have assisted to a continuous market-growth and diffusion of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV, drones), due to the important cost reduction of the involved technologies.Infrastructure inspection, sensing, maintenance, security and precision agriculture are just some of these aerial platforms endless applications
We describe a Mission Definition System (MDS) designed to help the client to and efficiently define a drone mission, and supports implementing it with autonomous flight, under pilot direct line-of-sight, so drone control recovery is possible in any unsafe situation
This section has the following main subsections: Section 3.1 details the system high level requirements and the high level interactions with its users, the pilots and the autopilots; Section 3.2 describes the whole MDS architecture; Section 3.3 details the underlying input data model and the web/mobile interfaces enabling the user and pilot to develop a common view of the operation; Section 3.4 describes the algorithmic core of the system, including calculations enabling trajectory simulations, and the translation of the derived flight and measurement plans to a suitable instruction language for the autopilot; and Section 3.5 describes the use of the aforementioned flight and measurement plans by the drone systems
Summary
Infrastructure inspection, sensing, maintenance, security and precision agriculture are just some of these aerial platforms endless applications. In this scenario, the complexity of the missions (flight and measurement/data gathering specifications) drastically increases, requiring new techniques and tools to define and perform a flight. The workflow to define an infrastructure inspection mission involves a client/user, who may benefit from an aerial view, and a pilot, who flies the drone following the guidelines and requirements imposed by the client. According to the European Drones Outlook Study [1], the market of the drones will explode in the thirty years in the fields of agriculture, energy, public safety/security, e-commerce/delivery and mobility and transport. The delivery of small objects is already a reality
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
