<p> </p> <p>This work proposes a proof of concept along with a prototype of a multi-agent autonomous drone system that can be used to detect, and capture a intruding adversarial drone. The functional Counter Unmanned Aerial System (CUAS) prototype is used to convey the feasibility of a persistent multi-agent aerial protection and apprehension system by demonstrating important features of the mission through both simulation and field testing.<br> </p> <p> </p>

Infrastructure monitoring is being transformed by the advancements on remote sensing, unmanned vehicles and information technology. The wide interaction among these fields and the availability of reliable commercial technology are helping pioneer intelligent inspection methods based on digital 3D models. Commercially available Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been used to create 3D photogrammetric models of industrial equipment. However, the level of automation of these missions remains low. Limited flight time, wireless transfer of large files and the lack of algorithms to guide a UAV through unknown environments are some of the factors that constraint fully automated UAV inspections. This work demonstrates the use of unsupervised Machine Learning methods to develop an algorithm capable of constructing a 3D model of an unknown environment in an autonomous iterative way. The capabilities of this novel approach are tested in a field study, where a municipal water tank is mapped to a level of resolution comparable to that of manual missions by experienced engineers but using $63\%$ . The iterative approach also shows improvements in autonomy and model coverage when compared to reproducible automated flights. Additionally, the use of this algorithm for different terrains is explored through simulation software, exposing the effectiveness of the automated iterative approach in other applications.

Small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) will become a disruptive force on the modern battlefield. In recent years, sUAS size and cost have decreased while their capability has increased. They have forced a reconsideration of the air superiority paradigm held since the First World War. Perhaps their most attractive, and worrisome, feature is the huge range of combat roles that they might fulfill. The presence of sUAS on future battlefields is certain, but the role they will play and their impact on those battlefields are not. This work presents a decision support framework for sUAS deployment in small infantry units. The framework is designed to explore and evaluate multiple sUAS-small-unit deployment concepts' impact on small unit effectiveness in a combat scenario of interest. The framework helps decision makers identify high-level sUAS deployment principles for testing and validation in physical experiments before sUAS are implemented on the battlefield. The decision support framework comprises the following: 1) a definition of the sUAS-small-unit deployment concept design space and combat scenario, 2) an agent-based computer model for exploring sUAS deployment concepts, 3) a set of analysis tools for evaluating sUAS deployment impact on combat effectiveness, and 4) suggestions for synthesizing high-level sUAS deployment principles from the analysis. In this work, the decision support framework for sUAS-small-unit deployment is used to explore and evaluate the impact of deploying an infantry platoon with between one and nine unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) operating in a reconnaissance role while executing one of several sUAS patrol pattern variants. In a scenario in which a defending platoon uses sUAS to intercept and aid in indirect fires targeting against a platoon of attacking infantry, the sUAS were shown to markedly improve the defending platoon's combat effectiveness. The framework is used to synthesize several key principles for sUAS deployment in the scenario. It shows that, when fewer UAVs are deployed, short-range sUAS patrols improve defender combat effectiveness. Conversely, when more UAVs are deployed, long-range sUAS patrols improve the defenders' ability to target attacking units with indirect fires, increasing the firepower concentrated against opponents. The analysis also shows that increasing the number of deployed UAVs improves the likelihood of defending warfighters surviving the engagement and the defenders' ability to detect and engage the attackers with indirect fires. Finally, the framework shows that sUAS can force alterations in attacker behavior, removing them from combat by non-violent, but highly effective, means.

No description available.

This dissertation focuses on the path planning of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms under distributed and hybrid control scenarios. It presents two such models and analyzes them both from theory and practice. In the first method, a distributed formation control strategy for UAV swarm based on consensus law is presented. This model makes use of the fundamental concepts of leader-follower structure, social potential functions, and algebraic graph theory to jointly address flocking and de-confliction in the formation control problem. The impact of network topology on formation control is analyzed. It is shown that the degree distribution of the network representing the multi-agent system defines the rate at which formation is attained. Conditions for convergence and stability are derived. In the second method, a hybrid framework for path planning and coverage area by UAV swarms is presented. This strategy significantly improves the current labor-intensive and resource-constraint operations in aquaculture farms. To monitor the farms periodically, an optimized back-and-forth flight path based on the Shamos algorithm is utilized. A trajectory tracking strategy for UAV swarms under uncertain wind conditions is presented.

From 2019 to 2020, greenhouse and field research was conducted at North Dakota State University to investigate the canopy temperature response of waterhemp (Amaranthus rudis), kochia (Kochia scoparia), common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), horseweed (Conyza canadensis), Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri), and red root pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) after glyphosate application to identify glyphosate resistance. In these experiments, thermal images were captured of randomized glyphosate resistant populations and glyphosate susceptible populations of each weed species. The weed canopies' thermal values were extracted and submitted to statistical testing and various classifiers in an attempt to discriminate between resistant and susceptible populations. Glyphosate resistant horseweed, when collected within greenhouse conditions, was the only biotype reliably classified using significantly cooler temperature signatures than its susceptible counterpart. For field conditions, image based machine learning classifiers using thermal data were outperformed by classifiers made using additional multispectral data, suggesting thermal is not a reliable predictor of glyphosate resistance.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a foundational building block for the upcoming information revolution. Particularly, the IoT bridges the cyber domain to anything within our physical world which enables unprecedented monitoring, connectivity, and smart control. The utilization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can offer an extra level of flexibility which results in more advanced and efficient connectivity and data aggregation. In the first part of the thesis, we focus on the optimal IoT devices placement and, the spectral and energy budgets management for accurate source estimation. Practical aspects such as measurement accuracy, communication quality, and energy harvesting are considered. The problem is formed such that a set of cheap and expensive sensors are placed to minimize the estimation error under limited system cost. The IoT revolution relies on aggregating big data from massive numbers of devices that are widely scattered in our environment. These devices are expected to be of low- complexity, low-cost, and limited power supply, which impose stringent constraints on the network operation. Aerial data transmission offers strong line-of-sight links and flexible/instant deployment. The UAV-enabled IoT networks can, for instance, offer solutions to avoid and manage natural disasters such as forest fire. We investigate in this thesis the aerial data aggregation for field estimation, wildfire detection, and connection coverage enhancement via UAVs. To accomplish the network task, the field of interest is divided into several subregions over which the UAVs hover to collect samples from the underlying nodes. To this end, we formulate and solve optimization problems to minimize total hovering and traveling times. This goal is fulfilled by optimizing the UAV hovering locations, the hovering time at each location, and the trajectory traversed between hovering locations. Finally, we propose the utilization of the tethered UAV (T-UAV) to assist the terrestrial network, where the tether provides power supply and connects the T-UAV to the core network through a high capacity link. The T-UAV however has limited mobility due to the limited tether length. A stochastic geometry-based analysis is provided for the optimal coverage probability of T-UAV-assisted cellular networks.

No description available.

Quadrotors, being more agile than fixed-wing vehicles, are the ideal candidates for autonomous missions in small, compact spaces. The immense challenge to navigate such environments is fulfilled by the concept of path following. Path following is the method of tracking/tracing a fixed, pre-defined path with minimum position error while exerting the lowest possible control effort. In this work, the missile guidance technique of pure pursuit is adopted and modified for a 3D quadrotor model to follow fixed, compact trajectories. A specialized hardware testing platform is developed to test this algorithm. The results obtained from simulation and flight tests are compared to results from another technique called differential flatness. A small part of this thesis also deals with the stability analysis of the modified 3D pure pursuit algorithm to track trajectories expending lower control effort.

Consensus control algorithms for multi-agent systems are an area of much research. Several consensus control laws are experimentally validated on a multi-robot testbed in this thesis. A graphical user interface (GUI) is developed that simplies use of the testbed, as well as allows the execution of the testbed programs to be divided across multiple computers. This not only provides a more powerful computing environment, but a more realistic communication environment for the testbed. A method for a time varying or dynamic formation is both proposed and experimentally validated on the testbed. This research also explores a method for dynamic group resizing, i.e. addition or removal of members of the formation. Also, a new control law for synchronized oscillations is validated. Finally, a testbed for multiple cooperative Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) is developed for the Procerus UAV.