Integrating small satellite communication in an autonomous vehicle network: A case for oceanography

Abstract

Small satellites and autonomous vehicles have greatly evolved in the last few decades. Hundreds of small satellites have been launched with increasing functionalities, in the last few years. Likewise, numerous autonomous vehicles have been built, with decreasing costs and form-factor payloads. Here we focus on combining these two multifaceted assets in an incremental way, with an ultimate goal of alleviating the logistical expenses in remote oceanographic operations. The first goal is to create a highly reliable and constantly available communication link for a network of autonomous vehicles, taking advantage of the small satellite lower cost, with respect to conventional spacecraft, and its higher flexibility. We have developed a test platform as a proving ground for this network, by integrating a satellite software defined radio on an unmanned air vehicle, creating a system of systems, and several tests have been run successfully, over land. As soon as the satellite is fully operational, we will start to move towards a cooperative network of autonomous vehicles and small satellites, with application in maritime operations, both in-situ and remote sensing.

Formation of an Additional Motion Control Loop for the Nanosatellite to Adapt its Onboard Model to the Current Operating Conditions

“…Today, these spacecraft are increasingly used to implement a variety of space missions. The emphasis in the choice of a spacecraft class for solving modern problems of space exploration (global communication network [1], inspection of space debris objects [2][3][4], Earth remote sensing [5][6][7], etc.) is shifting towards the nanosatellites.…”

A Data Dissemination Protocol for Vehicles with Temporary Cellular Network Inaccessibility

“…A straightforward way to guarantee connectivity in the absence of cellular network coverage is satellite communication which, however, is quite expensive [6]. Therefore, we suggest a novel data dissemination protocol that can improve the delivery time of messages sent from vehicles in a dead spot to the external infrastructure.…”

Autonomous 3D Exploration of Large Structures Using an UAV Equipped with a 2D LIDAR

“…Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are continuously increasing in value as tools and are useful aids for a multitude of human activities. These activities, scenarios, and concepts nowadays cover a wide range of contexts from the multi-vehicle oceanographic environment [1,2,3] to smart farming [4,5], surveillance [6,7,8,9], wildfire tracking [10,11], or transportation [12,13]. These systems have, through miniaturization and reduction in cost, become more attractive and viable especially for tasks which might pose a danger to humans or tasks which are, in their essence, logistical burdens to carry out continuously in a manual manner.…”