Ground-Based Autonomous Robotic Inspection of General Aviation

Heron Systems proposes an autonomous UGV capable of dramatically improving the efficiency and scalability ofradiological scanning of General Aviation aircraft. The proposed system uses Clearpath Robotics' UGVs as a basis for mature, robust robotic design. The platform will be extended by MACE, the Heron Team's novel robotic system architecture, to support the integration of sensor solutions, optimized task allocation algorithms, control, and human-machine interface components via pluggable modules. This phase will develop the system design via an engineering design process leveraging existing state of the art in robotics technologies and radiation localization. Candidate sensor packages and inspection solutions shall be evaluated by assessing the ability to address requirements derived from operational storyboarding. A software-in-the-loop simulation environment, highlighting feasibility and CONOPS of the proposed solution, will be provided. The team's extensive current and prior research on detecting and localizing radiological sources, autonomous vehicles, and multi-robotic systems informs Phase 1 research and design focus. Five core areas are identified: Command & Control, Navigation & Localization, Local & Reach Back Communications, Radiation Detection & Identification, and Radioactive Source Localization. As a foundation for Phase 2, the completed design enables a rapid acquisition and integration effort. Immediate commercial applications will target acquisition by DHS to meets its radiological inspection requirement. Further opportunities in the mining, agriculture, construction, surveying, forestry, and other industries are envisioned.