Project description
The future of autonomous UAV swarm navigation
Robotics have seen remarkable progress, particularly in the development of small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) capable of autonomous, vision-based flights. These advances have fuelled interest in various applications, from drone delivery to infrastructure inspection. However, current solutions face limitations in terms of robustness and adaptability, hindering their performance in challenging, uncontrolled environments. The ERC-funded SkEyes project is set to change this narrative. With a decade of experience in the field, SkEyes aims to harness cutting-edge sensors, including lidar, depth, thermal, event, and visual cameras, to enable a swarm of small UAVs to collaborate effectively. By combining these heterogeneous sensing cues, SkEyes intends to enable intelligent UAV swarm navigation in critical scenarios such as wildfires.
Objective
Over the past two decades, we witnessed impressive advancements in Robotics. Amongst the most disruptive developments was the demonstration of small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with onboard cameras conducting autonomous, vision-based flights without reliance on GPS, sparking booming interest in a plethora of use-cases, such as automation of drone delivery, and infrastructure inspection and maintenance. This led to the emergence of new algorithms, advanced sensors, as well as miniaturized, powerful chips, opening exciting opportunities for automating single- as well as multi-UAV navigation. Current solutions, however, lack greatly in robustness and generality, struggling to perform outside very controlled settings, with onboard perception constituting the biggest impediment.
Working in this area for over a decade, it is troubling that despite dramatic progress, we still lack the technology to enable a UAV swarm to autonomously scan the seas for refugee dinghies or forest areas for wildfires, and to provide help in such dire situations. While, in principle, the core technology is the same across all use-cases, battling adverse conditions, such as wind, smoke, and degraded illumination, render the latter use-cases extremely challenging as they are time-critical and cannot be postponed until favorable conditions arise. Employing some of the currently most promising sensors, such as lidar, and advanced depth, thermal, event, and visual cameras, SkEyes proposes to address fundamental research questions to understand how to process and combine these heterogeneous sensing cues onboard a swarm of small UAVs. The goal is to achieve joint spatial understanding and scene awareness for effective autonomy in highly dynamic and realistic scenarios. Engaging such eyes in the sky, the focus is on robust, collaborative perception to enable intelligent UAV swarm navigation exhibiting adaptability in completing a mission in challenging conditions, at the push of a button.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors optical sensors
- social sciences sociology industrial relations automation
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering robotics autonomous robots drones
- social sciences sociology demography human migrations
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-COG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1678 Nicosia
Cyprus
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.