We consider the following time-optimal control problem with state constraints: compute minimal travelling time of a controllable object moving in a prescribed flow field in a bounded domain between two given points. The optimal control problem is solved numerically using two direct methods - interior-point line search filter method and sequential quadratic programming. Five sample flows are considered, and computational properties of the corresponding simulations are measured and discussed.

This paper concerns the quasi time-optimal motion in a simplified model of a mobile robot with constraints imposed on the state variables. As it is known, in this kind of problems involving the so-called unicycle type of dynamics, the classical assumptions of regularity with respect to the state constraints are not fulfilled. This fact greatly complicates the analysis of such control problems through the use of Pontryagin’s maximum principle. Moreover, the difficulties are also due to the presence of a singular control mode which is related to the angular velocity. The paper proposes a certain regularization approach in order to overcome the obstacles above and to develop a tool for the subsequent numerical implementation.

Techniques using RSS fingerprinting for localization have been studied over a number of different technologies in many different scenarios. In the case of underground tunnels localization can be quite challenging, yet it is extremely important for safety reasons. In the specific case of the CERN tunnels, accurate and automatized localization methods would additionally allow the workflow of some activities to become substantially faster. In a radiation area this would also have the added benefit of reducing the exposure time of personnel conducting so called radiation surveys which have to be carried out before access can be granted. In this paper Fingerprinting techniques for GSM and Wireless LAN are studied and enhanced to take advantage of both network technologies simultaneously as well as the channels RSS differential and an observed effect in the radiated power in the leaky-feeder cables. Besides the higher accuracy achieved for a single technology, this methodology looks promising for scenarios where several types of wireless networks are available or expected to be installed at a later stage.

Accurate localization techniques have long been of major importance for safety systems and a lot of research has been conducted in the distributed computing field regarding its functionality and reliability. In the specific scenario of long yet narrow tunnels existing at CERN, localization methods will enable a number of applications and processes to substantially reduce human intervention. In this paper we evaluate the use of Fingerprinting techniques with GSM signal available throughout the LHC tunnel via a radiating cable and compare some methods to estimate the location. The existing GSM infrastructure and tunnel conditions seem to be favorable to the adoption of these Fingerprinting methods. Nevertheless significant variations in the signal have been observed which might be traced back to different operational states of accelerator equipment. These effects and their sources will be analyzed in more detail in order to improve the applied techniques and their accuracy under such challenging conditions.

In a search and prosecute mission, multiple heterogeneous unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs that carry different resources need to perform the classify, prosecute and battle damage assessment (BDA) tasks on targets sequentially. Depending on the target resource requirement, it may be necessary to deploy a coalition of UAVs to perform the action. In this paper, we propose coalition formation algorithms that have low computational overhead to determine coalitions for the prosecute and the BDA tasks. We also develop a simultaneous strike mechanism based on Dubins curves for the UAVs to prosecute the target simultaneously. Monte-Carlo simulation results are presented to show how the algorithms work and the effect of increasing the number of BDA tasks on the mission performance.

This video shows a brief overview over Neptus, a command and control infrastructure for heterogeneous teams of autonomous vehicles. Having different types of vehicles at our laboratory and from our partners, there was an increasing need to create a common infrastructure to all these systems. Additionally, a tool to support the entire mission life cycle (planning, execution, review and dissemination) was lacking. Neptus was created to provide vehicle independence and seamless inter-systems communications. Currently, Neptus has been already tested with remotely operated vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles, unmanned air vehicles, autonomous surface vehicles and wireless sensor networks. Some of these systems were operated simultaneously by various operating consoles that were sharing the same communication infrastructure. The received data was being relayed to a Web server that allowed for the real-time mission following by using a common Web browser.

This paper presents the Mission Review and Analysis module of a C3I (Command, Control, Communication and Information) infrastructure - the Neptus framework. This is a mix-initiative environment that it's being developed in the Underwater Systems and Technology Laboratory (USTL/LSTS) with the goal to support the coordinated operation of heterogeneous teams of vehicles. This includes autonomous and remotely operated underwater, surface, land, and air vehicles and people. People perform a fundamental role, not only in the case of remotely operated vehicles, but also with autonomous vehicles where mix-initiative operation is a requirement. The Neptus is very modular and will be heavily based on services with a distributed architecture. This paper focus mainly on the mission review and analysis where the data collected in a mission is prepared for analysis.

The C3I (command, control, communication and information) Neptus framework which is being developed at the Underwater Systems and Technology Laboratory (USTL/LSTS) is presented. Neptus is a modular mixed initiative framework (human operators in the control loop) for the operation of heterogeneous teams of vehicles such as autonomous and remotely operated underwater, surface, land, and air vehicles. Neptus is composed of mission and vehicle planning, supervision, and post-mission analysis modules which are provided as services across a network. This paper focus mainly on the mission definition module with the presentation of MDL - a XML based language for mission definition

This paper addresses the design of a hybrid feedback control system enabling a car-like, rectangular vehicle to perform a tight L-shaped turn manoeuvre. This case constitutes an effort towards the definition of a general purpose methodology for hybrid feedback control synthesis. The design effort encompasses the synthesis of a set of modalities and mechanisms to detect relevant events enabling the overall motion coordination so that a global goal is attempted. Simulations of the implemented controller have shown a strong robustness with respect to modeling uncertainty and execution errors.

This paper describes a systems engineering approach to the design of an integrated decision support system, IDES, for the planning and control of ATMA, a Portuguese textile company. The paper presents the overall process emphasizing the methodological framework and the main results. Systems engineering methods were crucial in the development of a methodological framework adapted to the specificities of the Portuguese industry. This framework proved invaluable in the process of mapping a conceptual planning and control architecture based on dynamical optimization onto the design of the IDES according to the recommendations of the strategic plan of ATMA. Concepts and techniques from control systems, dynamic optimization, software engineering, enterprise modeling and anthropocentric systems were used in this process.

This paper presents a general architecture for the control of multiple vehicles based on the concept of generalized vehicle. This embodies an extension of the dynamically reconfigurable control architecture previously proposed by the authors (1994, 1995). Besides the capabilities of each vehicle inherent to the individual autonomy, the set of vehicles may be seen providing a pool of functionalists whose reconfiguration enables the emergence of a global features overcoming the single vehicle limitations. Unlike some other approaches, cooperation does not take place only at a deliberative level, but it results from a global coordination level implemented via an adequate protocol specified in the the global mission plan. The design of this architecture was driven by requirements extracted from the analysis of operational scenarios involving multiple vehicles.

In this article, we describe the analysis, design and implementation of a control architecture for a mobile platform to autonomously carry out transportation, surveillance and inspection tasks in semi-structured industrial environments. Based on a hierarchical structure composed by the organization, coordination and functional levels organized linguistically and structured according to the principle of increasing precision with decreasing intelligence, this control architecture permits the real-time parallel execution of tasks.