Collaborative UAV Planning, Mapping, and Exploration in GPS-Denied Environments

• Main Author: Olson, Jacob Moroni
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2019
• Subjects: planning; mapping; collaborative mapping; UAV; GPS-denied; genetic algorithms; relative; navigation; Engineering
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/8703; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=9703&context=etd

The use of multirotor UAVs to map GPS-degraded environments is useful for many purposes ranging from routine structural inspections to post-disaster exploration to search for survivors and evaluate structural integrity. Multirotor UAVs are able to reach many areas that humans and other robots cannot safely access. Because of their relatively short operational flight time compared to other robotic applications, using multiple UAVs to collaboratively map these environments can streamline the mapping process significantly. This research focuses on four primary areas regarding autonomous mapping and navigation with multiple UAVs in complex unknown or partially unknown GPS-denied environments: The first area is the high-level coverage path planning necessary to successfully map these environments with multiple agents. The second area is the lower-level reactive path planning that enables autonomous navigation through complex, unknown environments. Third, is the estimation framework that enables autonomous flight without the use of GPS or other global position sensors. Lastly, it focuses on the mapping framework to build a single dense 3D map of these environments with multiple agents flying simultaneously.