1. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania Extended Environmental Monitoring via Intelligent Autonomous Airship (NSF Grant ECS-0086931) Research Team: Faculty Sanjiv Singh, PI (CMU) David Wettergreen (CMU) Cliff Davidson (CMU) Jim Ostrowski (UPenn) Postdocs George Kantor Graduate Students (CMU) Jong Woo Kim (UPenn) Undergraduate Students Michael Schultz (CMU) Vito Sabella (UPenn) Daniel Levin (UPenn)

2. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania Purpose: To use an airship as a robotic “field scientist” to collect, analyze, organize, and disseminate environmental data. Requirements: Automatic flight control. Integration of navigational and environmental sensors. Renewable power source for extended duration operation. Science-driven autonomy Extended Environmental Monitoring via Intelligent Autonomous Airship (NSF Grant ECS-0086931)

3. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania Motivating Examples Air Pollution 3-D pollution profiles Plume tracking Forest Management Gypsy moth defoliation Forest typing Wetlands Delineation Flora/fauna monitoring Other Geological assessment/prospecting Characterization of archeological sites

4. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania Theoretical Advances 6 DOF dynamic airship model Feasibility study for solar powered airship Path following for airship and other underactuated dynamical systems Randomized path planning to generate near-optimal motion plans

5. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania Solar Power Airship Study Airship must be large enough to carry the weight of solar cells and batteries. Required airship size is a function of battery technology and desired operating velocity

6. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania Solar Airship Study Solar array size is limited by the effective surface area of the airship. As a result, maximum airship cruising velocity is a function of solar cell efficiency.

7. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania Underactuated Path Following A path following algorithm for for underactuated second order dynamic systems has been developed. This algorithm combines the kinematic pure pursuits algorithm with nonlinear control theory for mechanical systems. In simulation, our algorithm provides a means of following an arbitrary path in the presence of wind.

8. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania Experimental Results A 30’ remote controlled airship purchased from Mobile Airships, Inc. was used as a platform for autonomy research. power source: gasoline usable payload: ~10 kg flight time: 45 minutes flight controls: thrust magnitude thruster pitch elevator angle rudder angle

9. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania Sensor Integration

10. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania Flight Test (ground video)

11. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania Flight Test (onboard video)

12. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania RET Program RET Extension supported Mr. Joseph Abraham, robotics teacher at Taylor Alderdice High School. Mr. Abraham’s participation included: Assisted in airship configuration and field experiments Studied camera-based remote guidance for indoor airship Constructed 8 foot indoor blimp at Taylor Alderdice HS Demonstrated feedback control with MATLAB Involved high school students in all aspects of collaboration

13. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania STWING Blimp Team This project partially supported an undergraduate research team devoted to the study and development of autonomous airships. The STWING Blimp team includes University of Pennsylvania students majoring in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, and business.

14. THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Carnegie Mellon University The University of Pennsylvania Conclusion Near term goals: Airship flight control and autonomy. Collect environmental data in flight. Long term goals: Autonomous, solar powered airship. Continuous, month-long flight. Project Accomplishments: Configured 30’ airship with computer, navigation sensors, and carbon monoxide monitor. Tested in flight. Studied solar power collection for airship. Modeled airship dynamics. Developed path planning algorithms.