IMAGINE - Improving Micro-uas Autonomous operations in Gps challenging environments by ultra-light radar sensors and INErtial mems systems

IMAGINE project proposal deals with autonomous flight operations of micro Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in challenging environments, e.g. cluttered dense urban areas or indoor, where the standard GPS-based navigation does not work. Autonomous navigation, exploration and mapping of unknown or partially unknown challenging environments by micro-UAS represents a field of research dominated by experts in robotic sciences rather than aerospace systems. The most used sensor systems are based on integration between cameras and one-dimensional laser rangefinders. Inertial sensors are only partially exploited. Radar is typically deemed inapplicable owing to mass and weight constraints, power requirements and cumbersome data processing. IMAGINE project aims at investigating the radar-based approach that, completed with the aerospace perspective (central role played by inertial navigation, sense-and-avoid under high-dynamic conditions, proper sensors characterization and testing, data and sensor fusion), represents a viable solution to the problem of autonomous exploration and mapping by micro-UAS, especially under extreme conditions of poor visibility and when the exploring platform must deal with smoke, fog, and vapor. IMAGINE is a two-year project which culminates in the experimental validation of all project topics through laboratory testing and a dedicated flight campaign. An experimental setup shall be developed including well characterized inertial sensors and a compact radar mounted on small and micro-UAS. The campaign includes testing and verification in realistic scenarios of the developed algorithms for radar-based navigation and dynamic filtering strategies for data fusion between radar and inertial measurements. Accurate reference data will be also collected to evaluate the overall achieved performance and to demostrate the potential of radar-based information in autonomous navigation of micro-UAS