In this paper, we present the component technologies and the integration of these technologies for the development of an adaptive system of heterogeneous robots for urban surveillance. In our integrated experiment and demonstration, aerial robots generate maps that are used to design navigation controllers and plan missions for the team. A team of ground robots constructs a radio signal strength map that is used as an aid for planning missions. Multiple robots are to establish a mobile, ad-hoc communication network that is aware of the radio signal strength between nodes and adapts to changing conditions to maintain connectivity. Finally, the team of aerial and ground robots is able to monitor a small village, and search for and localize human targets by the color of the uniform, while ensuring that the information from the team is available to a remotely located human operator. The key component technologies and contributions include (a) mission specification and planning software; (b) decentralized control for navigation in an urban environment while maintaining communication; (c) programming abstractions and composition of controllers for multi-robot deployment; (d) cooperative control strategies for search, identification, and localization of targets; and (e) three-dimensional mapping in an urban setting.

No abstract