In the dynamic and challenging maritime domain, Search and Rescue (SAR) operations are critical for ensuring the safety of life at sea. Adverse weather conditions often hinder traditional SAR efforts, leading to significant delays or cancellation of search missions. This paper introduces an autonomous search system utilizing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The system combines decision-making techniques for automatic mission generation and a flexible machine-learning framework that allows for easy training and deployment of models to automatically process data gathered during SAR operations. One of the system’s main features is the ease of use in mission planning, where high-level mission goals can be specified via a user interface in the form of data requests. The paper presents the results of the experimental evaluations of the system and showcases its deployment in actual field-test experimentation.

This paper presents a model-driven approach to detect image line segments. The approach incrementally detects segments on the gradient image using a linear Kalman filter that estimates the supporting line parameters and their associated variances. The algorithm is fast and robust with respect to image noise and illumination variations, it allows the detection of longer line segments than data-driven approaches, and does not require any tedious parameters tuning. An extension of the algorithm that exploits a pyramidal approach to enhance the quality of results is proposed. Results with varying scene illumination and comparisons to classic existing approaches are presented.

In the context of collaborative robotics, distributed situation awareness is essential for  supporting collective intelligence in teams of robots and human agents where it can be used for both individual and collective decision support. This is particularly important in applications pertaining to emergency rescue and crisis management. During operational missions, data and knowledge are gathered incrementally and in different ways by heterogeneous robots and humans. We describe this as the creation of Hastily Formed Knowledge Networks (HFKNs). The focus of this paper is the specification and prototyping of a general distributed system architecture that supports the creation of HFKNs by teams of robots and humans. The information collected ranges from low-level sensor data to high-level semantic knowledge, the latter represented in part as RDF Graphs. The framework includes a synchronization protocol and associated algorithms that allow for the automatic distribution and sharing of data and knowledge between agents. This is done through the distributed synchronization of RDF Graphs shared between agents. High-level semantic queries specified in SPARQL can be used by robots and humans alike to acquire both knowledge and data content from team members. The system is empirically validated and complexity results of the proposed algorithms are provided. Additionally, a field robotics case study is described, where a 3D mapping mission has been executed using several UAVs in a collaborative emergency rescue scenario while using the full HFKN Framework.

This paper describes an overview of a generic framework for collaboration among humans and multiple heterogeneous robotic systems based on the use of a formal characterization of delegation as a speech act. The system used contains a complex set of integrated software modules that include delegation managers for each platform, a task specification language for characterizing distributed tasks, a task planner, a multi-agent scan trajectory generation and region partitioning module, and a system infrastructure used to distributively instantiate any number of robotic systems and user interfaces in a collaborative team. The application focusses on 3D reconstruction in alpine environments intended to be used by alpine rescue teams. Two complex UAV systems used in the experiments are described. A fully autonomous collaborative mission executed in the Italian Alps using the framework is also described.

In this work we are investigating reactive avoidance techniques which can be used on board of a small quadcopter and which do not require absolute localisation. We propose a local map representation which can be updated with proprioceptive sensors. The local map is centred around the robot and uses spherical coordinates to represent a point cloud. The local map is updated using a depth sensor, the Inertial Measurement Unit and a registration algorithm. We propose an extension of the Dynamic Window Approach to compute a velocity vector based on the current local map. We propose to use an OctoMap structure to compute a 2-pass A* which provide a path which is converted to a velocity vector. Both approaches are reactive as they only make use of local information. The algorithms were evaluated in a simulator which offers a realistic environment, both in terms of control and sensors. The results obtained were also validated by running the algorithms on a real platform.

Characters recognition in natural images is a challenging problem, asit involves segmenting characters of various colours on various background. Inthis article, we present a method for segmenting images that use a colour percep-tion graph. Our algorithm is inspired by graph cut segmentation techniques andit use an edge detection technique for filtering the graph before the graph-cut aswell as merging segments as a final step. We also present both qualitative andquantitative results, which show that our algorithm perform at slightly better andfaster to a state of the art algorithm.

Skeletonisation is a key process in character recognition in natural images. Under the assumption that a character is made of a stroke of uniform colour, with small variation in thickness, the process of recognising characters can be decomposed in the three steps. First the image is segmented, then each segment is transformed into a set of connected strokes (skeletonisation), which are then abstracted in a descriptor that can be used to recognise the character. The main issue with skeletonisation is the sensitivity with noise, and especially, the presence of holes in the masks. In this article, a new method for the extraction of strokes is presented, which address the problem of holes in the mask and does not use any parameters.

Rich geometric models of the environment are needed for robots to carry out their missions. However a robot operating in a large environment would require a compact representation. In this article, we present a method that relies on the idea that a plane appears as a line segment in a 2D scan, and that by tracking those lines frame after frame, it is possible to estimate the parameters of that plane. The method is divided in three steps: fitting line segments on the points of the 2D scan, tracking those line segments in consecutive scan and estimating the parameters with a graph based SLAM (Simultaneous Localisation And Mapping) algorithm.

Rich geometric models of the environment are needed for robots to accomplish their missions. However a robot operatingin a large environment would require a compact representation.

In this article, we present a method that relies on the idea that a plane appears as a line segment in a 2D scan, andthat by tracking those lines frame after frame, it is possible to estimate the parameters of that plane. The method istherefore divided in three steps: fitting line segments on the points of the 2D scan, tracking those line segments inconsecutive scan and estimating the parameters with a graph based SLAM (Simultaneous Localisation And Mapping)algorithm.