Funded Projects

The goal of this project is to develop multi-drone dispatch-and-routing optimization algorithms and exploit the potentials of microwave sensors for multi-drone enhanced post-disaster search operations. Microwave sensors have been used for through-the-wall imaging and remote sensing of vital signatures (e.g. heartbeats and respiratory movements). When such unique sensing capabilities are integrated on commercial drones, an efficient and low-cost search-and-rescue solution can be realized that can be particularly useful in situations where the target area is not accessible by ground units/vehicles. However, current microwave sensors mounted on drones operate suboptimally due to small drone sizes that limit the aperture dimension of the antenna. To further harness the technological potential of drone-mounted microwave sensors, we propose to explore “scout-and-summon” multi-drone routing schemes. The proposed method may be especially useful for post-disaster search operations that demand quick and accurate identification of survivors and the window for response is limited. In this scheme, the drones initially spread-out and scan for potential signatures of the survivors, and then group if needed to boost the confidence level of the detected signal prior to informing the rescue center to dispatch limited rescue resources to the correct locations in the most time efficient manner. Grouping of multiple drones enhances the spatial resolution of the microwave sensors to help pinpoint the exact location of the survivors and increases the strength of the reflected signals from the targets. To accomplish the proposed multi-drone routing scheme, this project will develop a 3D path planning optimization model and a suite of path updating models when new information is obtained from the sensor system. The outcomes of this project will serve as preliminary work for an NSF CPS proposal submission in May 2019. Funds from UB Blue Sky will be used to partially support two graduate students this semester, to generate initial model formulations and sensor results to be included in the proposal.