Full Summary Analysis Draft 1

 

The article “The Flying Robot Might Prevent Deforestation” (2012), introduces the functionality and purpose of drones, which provide aerial surveillance and data gathering. The drones act as “tiny, silent guardians of the rainforest” and gather data from disaster zones and illegal logging. It captures live footage and allows immediate response to the situation. The article also states that drones can be used to capture “illegal drug trafficking and mining, as well as environmental crimes”. According to Kumar, deputy dean of the University of Pennsylvania, quadrotors can operate automatically for spying, unlike the “fixed-wing drone” that pilots manually. The quadrotors are palm-sized and smarter. It has high situation awareness to react to obstruction by adjusting the rotors’ speed to orientate itself and maneuver through. Each quadrotor runs independently which affects coordination with other units. The size and its abilities served their purpose for quadrotors to regulate the rainforest by flying through the canopies. Quadrotors is one of the most versatile mini flying surveillance equipment as it has the ability to monitor and provide aerial investigations effectively and efficiently.

One of the main features that makes the quadrotors flexible is that the flying robot weighs approximately 250g and 15cm in diameter. They are equipped with an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) which enables the quadrotors to speed up to 4.5m/s and accelerates up to 1.5g. It can also rolls and pitch to an angle of 90 degrees and has angular rates of up to 800 degrees per second without any structures to rely on. The feedbacks that are being transmitted by the motion capture system enables the quadrotors to perform aggressive maneuvers and is able to rest or hover above any vertical surfaces. Thereafter allowing the quadrotors to carry out missions and tasks that are time-bounded such as search and rescue missions. Entering constricted or confine areas does not pose any problem for these quadrotors as well which could perform surveillance and investigations effectively and efficiently.

One of the most important components to detect a target, conduct surveillance or monitoring would be the onboard downward-facing camera. The downward-facing camera has a resolution of 176 x 144 pixels and it runs at 60 Frames per Second (FPS). It covers a field of view at 47.5 degrees x 36.5 degrees. Results have shown that the relationship between image and real word coordinates is maintained (2). The downward camera has the capability to track and detect stationary or moving targets while working hand in hand with the IMU. The target is kept within the field of view of the downward camera. Multiple experiments and simulations were done successfully. This allows the quadrotors to continuously track targets without losing sight of them. Images and data of the estimated position of the targets will be transmitted to ground control stations for off-board image processing (2).

Large numbers of the quadrotors are used to monitor large areas and the surveillance is manageable. The quadrotors function individually but work as a team in ensuring that each task such as artistic pattern formation, tracking of mobile targets, perimeter surveillance and boundary coverage and environmental monitoring are done as required. With multiple quadrotors in the air, aerial surveillance and monitoring will turn out to be more effective as it has the capability to cover large areas of land and to detect activities that runs in the area.

With all the functions and features of the quadrotors, they will be able to detect activities that runs in the area be in a moving or stationary target. Along with the size and weight of the object, quadrotors are mini flying robots that could effectively and efficiently monitor and conduct aerial surveillance in a large area.

References:

1. IEEE. (July 2017). Autonomous Flight for Detection, Localization, and Tracking of Moving Targets With a Small Quadrotor. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7921549

2. IEEE. (2015). Autonomous visual tracking and landing of a quadrotor on a moving platform. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7414792

3.  IEEE. (2015). Estimation, Control, and Planning for Aggressive Flight With a Small Quadrotor With a Single Camera and IMU.  https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7762111

4. Taylor and Francis Online. (April 2013). Decentralized controllers for perimeter surveillance with teams of aerial robots.  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01691864.2013.778942