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Collision-free path planning is an essential requirement for autonomous exploration in unknown environments, especially when operating in confined spaces or near obstacles. This study presents an autonomous exploration technique using a…
This paper presents an autonomous navigation system for ground robots traversing aggressive unstructured terrain through a cohesive arrangement of mapping, deliberative planning and reactive behaviour modules. All systems are aware of…
Hybrid ground and aerial vehicles can possess distinct advantages over ground-only or flight-only designs in terms of energy savings and increased mobility. In this work we outline our unified framework for controls, planning, and autonomy…
In disaster-stricken environments, it's vital to assess the damage quickly, analyse the stability of the environment, and allocate resources to the most vulnerable areas where victims might be present. These missions are difficult and…
Subterranean environments with lots of obstacles, including narrow passages, large voids, rock falls and absence of illumination were always challenging for control, navigation, and perception of mobile robots. The limited availability and…
This paper presents a self-contained system for the robust utilization of aerial robots in the autonomous exploration of cave environments to help human explorers, first responders, and speleologists. The proposed system is generally…
While autonomous multi-robots can achieve safe and coordinated navigation, they often struggle to adapt to unforeseen conditions and to capture operator-driven objectives in unstructured environments. We present a Virtual Reality (VR)-based…
In the last decade, a great effort has been employed in the study of Hybrid Unmanned Aerial Underwater Vehicles, robots that can easily fly and dive into the water with different levels of mechanical adaptation. However, most of this…
We introduce the problem of Dynamic Real-time Multimodal Routing (DREAMR), which requires planning and executing routes under uncertainty for an autonomous agent. The agent has access to a time-varying transit vehicle network in which it…
Proper path planning is the first step of robust and efficient autonomous navigation for mobile robots. Meanwhile, it is still challenging for robots to work in a complex environment without complete prior information. This paper presents…
The Roller-Quadrotor is a novel quadrotor that combines the maneuverability of aerial drones with the endurance of ground vehicles. This work focuses on the design, modeling, and experimental validation of the Roller-Quadrotor. Flight…
This paper presents a hybrid route-path planning model for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle's task assignment and management while the AUV is operating through the variable littoral waters. Several prioritized tasks distributed in a large…
In this work, we present Tilt-Ropter, a novel hybrid aerial-terrestrial vehicle (HATV) that combines tilt rotors with passive wheels to achieve energy-efficient multi-mode locomotion. Unlike existing under-actuated HATVs, the fully actuated…
In this paper we address the problem of path planning in an unknown environment with an aerial robot. The main goal is to safely follow the planned trajectory by avoiding obstacles. The proposed approach is suitable for aerial vehicles…
This paper presents a novel approach for autonomous cooperating UAVs in search and rescue operations in subterranean domains with complex topology. The proposed system was ranked second in the Virtual Track of the DARPA SubT Finals as part…
Navigating in search and rescue environments is challenging, since a variety of terrains has to be considered. Hybrid driving-stepping locomotion, as provided by our robot Momaro, is a promising approach. Similar to other locomotion…
Autonomous exploration of unknown environments has been widely applied in inspection, surveillance, and search and rescue. In exploration task, the basic requirement for robots is to detect the unknown space as fast as possible. In this…
The use of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) for inspection and surveillance missions has proved to be extremely useful, however, their usability is negatively impacted by the large power requirements and the limited operating time. This work…
We propose a framework for resilient autonomous navigation in perceptually challenging unknown environments with mobility-stressing elements such as uneven surfaces with rocks and boulders, steep slopes, negative obstacles like cliffs and…
Artificial intelligence has undergone immense growth and maturation in recent years, though autonomous systems have traditionally struggled when fielded in diverse and previously unknown environments. DARPA is seeking to change that with…