Intelligent Sensor Platforms for Remotely Piloted and Unmanned Vehicles. Dr. Nick Krouglicof 14 June 2012

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1 Intelligent Sensor Platforms for Remotely Piloted and Unmanned Vehicles Dr. Nick Krouglicof 14 June 2012

2 Project Overview Project Duration September 1, 2010 to June 30, 2016 Primary objective(s) / outcomes Development of intelligent sensor systems for deployment on autonomous or remotely piloted vehicles Underwater intelligent laser scanning system for AUVs / ROVs Active vision system for small UAVs Secondary objective(s) / outcomes Establishment of Mechatronic Development and Prototyping Facility Development of core technologies such as an improved linear actuator, a fast / accurate sensor pointing device, and an intelligent camera

3 Project Team Principal Investigator: Dr. Nick Krouglicof Faculty Participants: Dr. Ralf Bachmayer, Dr. Ray Gosine, Dr. Amy Hsiao, Dr. Andrew Vardy, Prof. Andy Fisher Other Key Participants: Dr. Kaaren May (Project Manager and Image Processing Co-Lead) 4 PhD candidates: Mr. Dion Hicks - voice coil actuator; control of pointing device Mr. Dennis Fifield - hardware design; intelligent camera Mr. Taufiqur Rahman - intelligent laser scanner Mr. Raju Hossain - development of quadrotor; aerial validation Mr. Brian Pretty and Mr. Steve Steele (Mechatronic Technologists) 2 MEng students; 1 co-op student per semester

4 Financial Budget: $ 3,719,025 Eligible Costs Cash Financing * RDC: Infrastructure Award $723,750, Ocean Sciences Research Award $60,000

5 Project Structure The goal is to develop two main sensor systems: an underwater intelligent laser scanning system for 3D modeling (to be deployed on ROVs / AUVs), and an active vision system for UAVs These systems share a number of core technologies: pointing device and actuator design, custom FPGA-based board design, front-end intelligent camera hardware Broadly speaking, the project can be broken down into five main activities: establishing the facility to manufacture prototypes, developing the core technologies, integrating those technologies into application-specific systems, validation, and commercialization

6 Project Plan 2010* Establishment of Mechatronic Prototyping Facility Core Technologies Integration Validation Voice Coil Development Development of Motion Control and Image Processing Hardware Development of an Intelligent Camera Development of Sense and Avoid Technologies Development of Intelligent Laser Scanner Development of uadrotor Aerial Vehicle Autonomous Takeoff / Landing of uadrotor Validation of Active Vision System Commercialization * Financial year starts on April 1

7 Mechatronic Development and Prototyping Facility Used to develop and test intelligent sensor prototypes Intended to support other industry-academic collaborative research Available to external businesses and organizations through Industrial Outreach (

8 Prototyping Facility Equipment Rapid Prototyping Equipment Manufacture of mechanical components and electronic enclosures Additive layer manufacturing (Fused Deposition Modeling) Electronic Test and Measurement Equipment Includes facilities for assembly and re-work of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) based on Surface Mount Technology (SMT) Non-Conventional Machining Systems Laser machining for fabricating precision Micro-Electro-Mechanical (MEMs) sensors and actuators Accelerated Environmental and Mechanical Testing Includes temperature and humidity test chambers

9 Prototyping Facility Progress Steering committee has been created: includes representatives of local industry as well as RDC, ACOA and MUN Renovations needed to prepare the facility to receive equipment have been completed, and cubicles and workbenches were installed Laser machining equipment and the major rapid prototyping equipment have been installed and training completed Tenders for temperature / humidity test chamber and a PCB assembly system have been issued Remaining equipment has been identified and most tenders drafted Two technologists are expected to begin working full time in July

10 Industrial Outreach Clients A number of Industrial Outreach clients have already benefitted from the rapid prototyping and / or laser machining equipment installed: The equipment has also been used to support local entrepreneurs like Mike Power, who is designing a rat deterrent device

11 Voice Coil Traditional voice coil A traditional voice coil consists of a single coil or winding moving through a fixed magnetic field The end user couples the actuator with other components New approach: Integrate the position feedback device and motion control electronics in the device Results in a compact, highly integrated, highly reliable design that is simple to mass-produce using conventional manufacturing and assembly techniques Will serve as a linear motor in the pointing device. Other applications include calibration of MEMS sensors

12 Motion Control and Image Processing Hardware FPGA controller board has been designed and assembled with basic functionality Additional functionality is being added to make it suitable for intended motion control and image processing applications

13 Intelligent Camera Target detection algorithms for the aerial application have been simulated in software and tested on actual encounter video These distinguish the camera motion from the target motion Test video courtesy of Flight Test Laboratory at the National Research Council s Institute for Aerospace Research in Ottawa

14 Pointing Device Stabilized gimbaled platforms that can accommodate one or more visible and/or infrared cameras tend to be bulky and slow TASE 150 ALTICAM 07 EO1 Micro ComPASS MicroBAT 275

15 New Design of Pointing Device Theoretical analysis and modeling has been completed Mechanical prototype for laser scanning system is being fabricated Design includes several novel features, including new actuator Similar mechanism: Six degree of freedom (DOF) Stewart platform

16 uadrotor Aerial Vehicle Plays an important role in validation of the intelligent camera Can be launched and recovered from a small space such as a surface craft, hover in close proximity to a target, and be used to explore hazardous environments Ocean applications include installing a GPS on an unstable iceberg, and investigating oil spills Commercial quadrotors such as the Aeryon Scout have been tested for oil spill investigation (right), but in harsh ocean environments one challenge is recovering the vehicle on a moving surface craft

17 Commercial Applications (1 of 2) Potential applications of the underwater intelligent laser scanning system are numerous: Modeling of fishing gear in MI Flume Tank (initial application) Underwater pipeline inspection Offshore oil asset damage assessment Ship hull / ship propeller inspections Advantage over current systems will be the intelligence to detect an object of interest an selectively scan the region, offering increased resolution and speed Likewise, the active vision system could be used in maritime surveillance, for automatic detection and tracking of moving targets

18 Commercial Applications (2 of 2) Core technologies that make up the final systems may also be commercializable: Linear actuator Calibration of MEMS sensors Pointing device Smart laser scanning Tracking of fast moving objects by camera Time of flight range finding system Intelligent camera Automatic detection of region of interest (e.g., moving target) Marker-based landing of quadrotor UAVs

19 IP Exploitation Plan is to use a newly formed company as the primary commercialization vehicle, but the intention is not to compete with local companies There is an IP agreement with Boeing that relates to IP for certain aerial applications this is not a commercial license agreement Goal is to disclose IP and get Genesis to assess/protect it on an ongoing basis Revenue streams for the new company could include fees and royalties from licensing the core technologies, as well as contract R & D to produce application-specific prototypes integrating the core technologies

20 Summary We ve still got a long way to go, but there are some technologies that are very relevant to ocean industries, particularly the underwater intelligent laser scanning system and use of the intelligent camera for landing a quadrotor on a surface craft at sea More immediately, the Mechatronic Development and Prototyping Facility is intended to support industry-academic collaborative research, and is available to local industry via Industrial Outreach

21 Contact Information: Principal Investigator: Nick Krouglicof Tel: Website: intelligent-sensors/index.php

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