OR1 Communication, networking and virtualization
● A1.0 Technical-scientific Coordination
● A1.1 QoS Assessment techniques
The goal is to find evaluations tools that analyze and estimate QoS indicative parameters of a data access, including the available bandwidth offered by each radiomobile access and the mechanism to estimate the Key Performance Indicators of an internet connection (packet loss, jitter…).
● A1.2 Trusted Execution Environment
Development of a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), a unique environment that executes just certified code and uses authenticate and real data only. It coexists with the Rich Execution Environment, which instead offers a flexible and computationally rich environment. Thanks to this architecture the “Black Box” of the avionic system can be achieved as an application executing in the TEE.
● A1.3 Hardware Virtualization
The purpose of this activity is the creation of a multi-tenant ecosystem that can be used by more than one application, achieving this way a model Drones As A Service. The innovative feature of this OR consists in the virtualization of the drone hardware resources in order to create common and shared interfaces and thus favoring the components reusability and improving the global system efficency.
● A1.4 Distributed Operating System
SOD design and development, based on ONOS. The SOD will have to monitorate the resources scheduling and management. It will expose a rich API in favor of the system main components, thus getting a unified access way to the different information types available.
OR2 Development on Cloud and vertical applications
● A2.1 Smart VPN Bonding
Implementation of a technique able to aggregate the possibile internet accesses available (3G, 4G, satellitare), ideally achieving a bandwidth speed almost equal to the total bandwidths available and a really strong fault-tolerance in case of denial of service. The idea provides for the possibility to use different mobile operators in order to sort the load out, according to the operator that offers the best options and performances. Of course, everything is transparent to the user.
● A2.2 Remote Control System
Realizing a Remote Control System that represents an advanced version of the so common Ground Control Station, used for the drone mission monitoring and control. All the information comes from the sensors on board will be displayed, allowing, this way, an accurate analysis of the data integrated by the processing application at real-time and permitting any mission modification according to what it was elaborated.
● A2.3 Geo-fencing
It aims to develop an advanced geo-fencing application, which is a kind of virtual fence, and dynamic policies able to update, at real-time, the protected area map, to build a virtual aisle required for the drone and to place fence sensors on the infrastructures, in order to signal to the close aircrafts to not come closer.
● A2.4 Precision Farming demonstrative application
It is wanted to create a vertical application, with innovative features based on the remote sensing concept applied to the farming field. The idea is to gather information, at real-time, about the plant vegetative state, through multispectral cameras that acquire and elaborate every single pixel of an image.
● A2.5 Civil Defence demonstrative application
One of the most used application of the drones is to support the human being in case of emergency, for example search and rescue operations, especially in extreme conditions of accessibility and when natural disasters such as earthquakes, flood and fires occur. The advantages of using this technology can be seen in the meaning of more action speed, less human risks and strong support to all the actions needed to be taken.
● A2.6 Integration
It aims to put together all the technologies developed in this OR and test them, in order to evaluate their behavior in case of interaction among them.
OR3 Robotics ed autopilot
● A3.0 Technical-scientific Coordination
● A3.1 Control Avioncs (Autopilot and Flight Computer)
The goal is to study and to design avionic devices that allow the aircraft configuration and management during the mission, along with a versatile and flexible architecture, in order to reconfigure the system easily and adjust its behavior according to the assigned tasks.
● A3.2 Control and navigation algorithms
It is intended to implement algorithms that allow to handle the drone flight and mission, directly from the interface between the autopilot and the network IoT infrastructure (Flight Control Computer System). In particular, these algorithms will have to verify the global system health status and they will have to manage any critical issues, through redundancy and security policies.
OR4 Development on board and trusted applications
● A4.1 Decentralized Driving Backup System
Thanks to the architecture developed in the previous activities, in this one, it is wanted to create an aircraft driving system backup, using the redundancy of the actual pilot system. This way, the drone would be remotely piloted, through a Gateway IoT device.
● A4.2 Smart Decentralized Recovery System
Given the multiple dangerous scenarios, in which the aircraft loses contact with the pilot and it is necessary to perform rescue operations that could damage the drone, it was decided to create a smart and decentralized system which activates a rescue sequence based on the available information of the affected area. This sequence could be optimized considering the circumstances and the drone autonomy.
● A4.3 Cloud Transponder
All the aircrafts with a take-off operative mass of less than 25 kg have an identification electronic device (electronic tag) for all the real-time data transmissions. The system limit is its needing to have a control center point for each served area. Therefore, it is wanted to implement a new generation transponder, the Cloud Transponder, which is a totally certified and authenticated application.
● A4.4 Integration
It aims to put together all the technologies developed in this OR and test them, in order to evaluate their behavior in case of interaction among them.
OR5 Distributed-sensing algorithms and techniques
● A5.0 Technical-scientific Coordination
● A5.1 Sensors suited for applications of interest
It intends to implement a network (Smart Dust) composed by multi-sensor low-cost nodes, released by the drones on the area of interest to get optimized and redundant information on the surrounding environment. Each node will be equipped with a set of sensors able to detect the human presence, a wireless transmitter to send the data to the drone, a microcontroller to pre-process the information and a battery.
● A5.2 Optimization of weights and consumptions
The goal is to study all the problematics related to the sensors power consumptions. In order to respect the project modular architecture, these consumptions will be brought in line and proportionate to the sensors number and to the connected devices. This approach will allow to have a kind of flexibility and reconfigurability of the system.
OR6 Hardware and Firmware Design
● T6.1 Modular Design
It is wanted to get definition, design and realization of the hardware needed for the implementations required by the others OR and by their corresponding softwares. At the same time, it is intended to obtain an architecture modular design, in order to face high computational loads in case of critical processings and to allow the interaction between the hardware modules and the Execution Environment.
● T6.2 Integration
It aims to put together all the technologies developed in this OR and test them, in order to evaluate their behavior in case of interaction among them.