Integrating Commercial-Off-The-Shelf Components into Radiation-Hardened Drone Designs for Nuclear-Contaminated Search and Rescue Missions

Abstract

This paper conducts a focused probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) on the reliability of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) drones deployed for surveillance in areas with diverse radiation levels following a nuclear accident. The study employs the event tree/fault tree digraph approach, integrated with the dual-graph error propagation method (DEPM), to model sequences that could lead to loss of mission (LOM) scenarios due to combined hardware–software failures in the drone’s navigation system. The impact of radiation is simulated by a comparison of the total ionizing dose (TID) with the acceptable limit for each component. Errors are then propagated within the electronic hardware and software blocks to determine the navigation system’s reliability in different radiation zones. If the system is deemed unreliable, a strategy is suggested to identify the minimum radiation-hardening requirement for its subcomponents by reverse-engineering from the desired mission success criteria. The findings of this study can aid in the integration of COTS components into radiation-hardened (RAD-HARD) designs, optimizing the balance between cost, performance, and reliability in drone systems for nuclear-contaminated search and rescue missions.

Risks of Drone Use in Light of Literature Studies

“…Construction, ease of implementation, efficiency, safety, effectiveness, and the ability to transport items or collect data cause drones to be considered a promising technology for search and rescue missions [ 143 , 144 , 145 , 146 , 147 , 148 , 149 , 150 ], support for ground transport in dire situations [ 151 , 152 , 153 ], or disaster respond and recovery [ 143 , 144 , 146 , 154 , 155 , 156 ]. Drones can be used for the following purposes: Detection of chemical substances [ 155 ]; Disaster victim identification [ 150 ]; Firefighting operations [ 157 , 158 ]; Transport of medical products [ 151 , 159 , 160 ]; Restoring radio communication [ 149 ]; Support for police patrols [ 161 ]; Responding to the gestures of a person participating in a response mission [ 162 ]; Surveillance in areas with diverse radiation levels [ 163 ]; Detecting anomalies in pollution [ 113 ]. …”

“…The aspects mentioned above have a significant impact on the operational safety of the drone. The increase in safety may also result from changes in the design [ 205 , 206 ], appropriate risk analysis tailored to the purpose of the drone [ 163 , 188 , 189 , 202 , 207 , 208 ], and the detection of unexpected behaviours and abnormal situations during the operation of the drone [ 209 , 210 , 211 , 212 , 213 ]. Just as important as the drone’s flight is its landing.…”