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The focus of this dissertation is to improve autonomous navigation in unstructured terrain conditions, with specific application to unmanned casualty extraction in disaster scenarios. Robotic systems are being widely employed for search and rescue applications, especially in disaster scenarios. But a majority of these are focused solely on the search aspect of the problem. This dissertation proposes a conceptual design of a Semi-Autonomous Victim Extraction Robot (SAVER) capable of safe and effective unmanned casualty extraction, thereby reducing the risk to the lives of first responders. In addition, the proposed design addresses the limitations of existing state-of-the-art rescue robots specifically in the aspect of head and neck stabilization as well as fast and safe evacuation. One of the primary capabilities needed for effective casualty extraction is reliable navigation in unstructured terrain conditions. Autonomous navigation in unstructured terrain, particularly for systems with tracked locomotion mode involves unique challenges in path planning and trajectory tracking. The dynamics of robot-terrain interaction, along with additional factors such as slip experienced by the vehicle, slope of the terrain, and actuator limitations of the robotic system, need to be taken into consideration. To realize these capabilities, this dissertation proposes a hybrid navigation architecture that employs a physics engine to perform fast and accurate state expansion inside a graph-based planner. Tracked skid-steer systems experience significant slip, especially while turning. This greatly affects the trajectory tracking accuracy of the robot. In order to enable efficient trajectory tracking in varying terrain conditions, this dissertation proposes the use of an active disturbance rejection controller. The proposed controller is capable of estimating and counter acting the effects of slip in real-time to improve trajectory tracking. As an extension of the above application, this dissertation also proposes the use of support vector machine architecture to perform terrain identification, solely based on the estimated slip parameters. Combining all of the above techniques, an overall architecture is proposed to assist and inform tele-operation of tracked robotic systems in unstructured terrain conditions. All of the above proposed techniques have been validated through simulations and experiments in indoor and simple outdoor terrain conditions. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation explores ways to improve autonomous navigation in unstructured terrain conditions, with specific applications to unmanned casualty extraction in disaster scenarios. Search and rescue applications often put the lives of first responders at risk. Using robotic systems for human rescue in disaster scenarios can keep first responders out of danger. To enable safe robotic casualty extraction, this dissertation proposes a novel rescue robot design concept named SAVER. The proposed design concept consists of several subsystems including a declining stretcher bed, head and neck support system, and robotic arms that conceptually enable safe casualty manipulation and extraction based on high-level commands issued by a remote operator. In order to enable autonomous navigation of the proposed conceptual system in challenging outdoor terrain conditions, this dissertation proposes improvements in planning, trajectory tracking control and terrain estimation. The proposed techniques are able to take into account the dynamic effects of robot-terrain interaction including slip experienced by the vehicle, slope of the terrain and actuator limitations. The proposed techniques have been validated through simulations and experiments in indoor and simple outdoor terrain conditions. The applicability of the above techniques in improving tele-operation of rescue robotic systems in unstructured terrain is also discussed at the end of this dissertation.

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L'intégration des sources d'énergies renouvelables sur le réseau électrique est complexe en raison de leur nature intermittente et décentralisée. Le micro-réseau est une approche prometteuse pour interconnecter des générateurs distribués (DGs) locaux, alimenter des charges locales et également échanger de l'énergie avec le réseau électrique de manière contrôlée. Ce mode de production/consommation locales permet d'éviter la transmission d'électricité sur de longues distances, et implique donc une plus grande efficacité. Ces travaux se concentrent sur l'analyse et le contrôle du micro-réseau continu afin que les DGs se répartissent l'alimentation des charges et qu'ils maintiennent également la tension du bus continu. À l'équilibre, les contraintesde la commande du statisme classique (droop control) pour un système comportant de multiples DGs sont analysés, et une méthode de compensation mixte est proposée pour améliorer simultanément le maintien en tension et le partage du courant de charge. En dynamique, le modèle global du système est construit en introduisant une inductance virtuelle dans le circuit équivalent du DG, puis plusieurs modèles d'ordre réduit sont examinés pour vérifier leur efficacité dans l'analyse de la stabilité du système. Un modèle multi-échelle d'ordre réduit (RMM) est proposé afin de conserver les contraintes temporelles ainsi que de réduire la complexité du système. Enfin, une méthode basée sur le contrôle de rejet de perturbation active (ADRC) est présentée afin de mettre en oeuvre le contrôle local de la tension des DG en prenant en compte l'échelle de temps. Cette méthode permet d'améliorer la dynamique du système de contrôle en ajustant la largeur de bande passante de la commande et de l'observateur. Les analyses et les méthodes de contrôle proposées sont vérifiées par des essais expérimentaux dans notre plateforme au laboratoire. / The direct integration of renewable energy resources to the utility grid is pretty tough due to their intermittent feature and dispersed nature. Microgrid is one promising approach to gather the local distributed generators (DGs), supply local loads as well as exchange power with the utility grid as a controllable unit. This local-generation-localconsumption mode is able to avoid the long distance power transmission, thus can benefit a higher efficiency. The control aim of DC microgrids is to make the multiple DGs share the load properly as well as maintain the DCbus voltage stable. In steady state, the constrains of the classic droop control in multiple DGs environment are analyzed, and a mixed compensation method using common current is proposed to improve the voltage and load sharing performance simultaneously. In dynamic state, the system comprehensive model is constructed by the introduction of virtual inductor in the equivalent circuit of the DG, then several reduced-order models are examined to check their effectiveness for the system stability analysis. A reduced-order multi-scale model (RMM) is proposedto keep major time scale information as well as reduce the system complexity. Finally, an active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) based control method is proposed to realize the time scale droop control. It can effectively adjust the dynamic of the local control by adjusting the bandwidth of the Linear Extend State Observer or/and the controller. The proposed analysis and control methods are verified by experimental tests in our laboratory platform.

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