Hybrid UAV-UGV for Efficient Relocation of Vessels

Project Information

HUUVER

Grant agreement ID: 870236

DOI

10.3030/870236

Project closed

EC signature date 29 November 2019

Start date 1 December 2019

End date 31 January 2022

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Space

Total cost

€ 1 622 987,50

EU contribution

€ 1 197 216,25

Coordinated by

CERVI ROBOTICS
Poland

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - HUUVER (Hybrid UAV-UGV for Efficient Relocation of Vessels)

Reporting period: 2020-09-01 to 2022-01-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The HUUVER system holds the overall objective of developing a twin-purpose drone system capable of flight and ground operation that provides the answer and technological solution to the emerging market of the autonomous vehicles. The concept of Hybrid UAV-UGV for Efficient Relocation of Vessels (HUUVER) describes how to create a platform that combines in an elegant way two types of propulsion systems in a compact and highly integrated autonomous drone. This drone will be the first fully integrated with the Galileo navigation system, profiting from the authentication service and precise navigation solution. The motivation of the presented concept takes its origin directly from the user perspective and expectations, where the flexibility, reliability, world-wide coverage are among the most mentioned. Completing for interfacing with an end-user, the system will also include a server-based application connected to the drone with features like planning and management of the drone mission and navigation. An important part of the system is a mobile, as a direct application for the end-user, mission launch and control tool.

The HUUVER drone platform has the capability for almost all-terrain movements like flying, perching, driving, climbing, vertical take-off and landing that make it a flexible solution for professional missions in various, difficult conditions. The ability of ground-based movements will allow for reaching the areas unavailable from the air, while advanced navigation and positioning, based in Galileo, provide unparalleled accuracy, reliability and efficiency in critical operations.

Specifically, the HUUVER project will fulfill this goal by achieving the following specific objectives:

Demonstration of a hybrid platform system in real-scenario mission
Demonstration of a high accurate navigation system with elevated credibility
Demonstration of a high availability of the navigation solution
Development of a energy efficient transportation system
Incorporation of end-user knowledge and experience
Impact standardization and regulation in the UAV-UGV space

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

WP1.
-Collate project progress reports from the Technical Manager and add this to report on overall project progress.
-Maintaining and update the overall project Plan
-Collate quarterly personnel effort reports from all partners
-Providing the technical deliverables and annual reports to the EC
-Organizing consortium meetings planning: logistics, minutes, action plan, etc
-Collecting requests for amendments: processing, register
-Organizing financial management (tables & intermediate reporting), prepare audit certificates, transfer EC grant, secure EC contribution
-Organizing and manage all contractual issues related to the project, including EC contract, Consortium Agreement.

WP2.
Refinement of the system definition:

-Telecommunication to the drone
-Automatized and manual control of the drone
-Navigation system of the drone
-Mission planning and management
-Shell software running on a server computer
-Software running on mobile phones and the drone
-Remote human detection from the payload of the drone
-Definition of the body navigation frame

Hardware and software requirements definition:

-Optical requirements
-include requirements regarding IR/EO and LiDAR system
-Functional requirements
-Defines communication means and protocols
-Describes required information transmission types
-Software requirements
-Defines parameters for the software
-Describes requirements for the navigation of the drone

WP3.
Following activities were performed:
-The platform components were specified and chosen
-The parameters of the platform were calculated, such as flight time dimensions, driving time, weight
-CAD model of construction was created
-CAD model simulations were performed
-3D renders were created
-Smaller-scale prototype was built
-Prototype of construction was built

WP4.
Design of:
-Ground Station and Server
-The HUUVER Control Panel
-Client application
-Computer vision support functionalities development

WP5.
The WP begins only in the next period (M10)

WP6.
-The analysis performed in D6.1 has taken inputs from the current EU Regulation to UAS, EASA guidance material and acceptable means of compliance, EASA Opinions, EASA Notice of proposed amendment.
-Regarding the standards applicable to UAS, they are numerous but most of them are focused on manned aviation. The absence of tailored standards of UAS is well known for the principal Standards’ Organizations and there are many Organizations working on the development of standards based on the current Regulation.
-The regulatory framework and standardization for UGV, the majority of these are focused on autonomous vehicles and manned vehicles. There is no specific regulation for remotely unmanned ground vehicles.
-Task 6.1 concluded and deliverable D6.1 approved.

WP7
• Task 7.1 Dissemination of project results
-HUUVER website - https://huuver.eu/ - will be the online hub
-Social media accounts (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram) extend the online reach and direct traffic back to website.
-Academic submissions expected in next reporting period
• Task 7.2 Market and trend analysis
The exploitation planning was initiated and supported by market and trends analysis conducted, later to be finalized and reported in D7.2 by M12. D7.2 will include:
-Global market figures
-The drone market in the HUUVER domains
-Main market trends
-R&D activities
• Task 7.3 Socio-economic impact assessment and business modelling
The work in this task has just started, the work performed includes the analysis of the methodology for the socio-economic impact assessment.
• Task 7.4 Deployment plan

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

HUUVER is going beyond state of art for currently offered drones with an increased payload up to 3 kilograms and longer time of active flight (with movement) up to 20 minutes without generating a environment pollution. Additional value is giving a drone function of ride about 40 minutes long on the ground using a tracks. This combination of functions will allow to save an electrical energy and driving across difficult terrain using its tracks and when the obstacles become too big, simply takes-off and flies over them and move forward. To achieve these parameters HUUVER will use hardware technologies like lightweight construction materials in connection with aerodynamic housing and more efficient batteries. The hardware part will be completed with dedicated power distribution algorithms that will allow to manage power more efficiently. One of the main features of power distribution algorithm is to match the best way of moving (driving or flying) to get as far as possible.

The navigation system of the HUUVER drone will also be hybrid. A multi-constellation GNSS, inertial measurements, air pressure and an optical system will be used in composition of the navigation solution. Combination of GNSS positioning with inertial measurement is known and applied for decades already, nevertheless it seems to be well serving in many novel applications. The GNSS itself offers many different services and for the purpose of this project the multi-frequency (E1, E5b) Galileo Open Service is a leading preference for its interoperability with other GNSS systems and free PNT and authentication services. Many solutions available on the market are set on a multi-constellation GNSS receiver, being known for higher availability, performance, precision.

Render of HUUVER drone