Heterogeneous Ground-Air Autonomous Vehicle Networking in Austere Environments: Practical Implementation of a Mesh Network in the DARPA Subterranean Challenge

TL;DR

This paper details the practical implementation and evaluation of a heterogeneous ground-air mesh network in subterranean environments, highlighting system design, performance, and lessons learned from the DARPA Subterranean Challenge.

Contribution

It introduces a customizable, low-cost mesh networking system optimized for robotic exploration in RF-limited environments, demonstrated in a real-world DARPA challenge.

Findings

Achieved 3rd place in DARPA SubT Challenge Final Event.

Provided performance metrics and insights into network operation.

Identified practical limitations and lessons for future system improvements.

Abstract

Implementing a wireless mesh network in a real-life scenario requires a significant systems engineering effort to turn a network concept into a complete system. This paper presents an evaluation of a fielded system within the DARPA Subterranean (SubT) Challenge Final Event that contributed to a 3rd place finish. Our system included a team of air and ground robots, deployable mesh extender nodes, and a human operator base station. This paper presents a real-world evaluation of a stack optimized for air and ground robotic exploration in a RF-limited environment under practical system design limitations. Our highly customizable solution utilizes a minimum of non-free components with form factor options suited for UAV operations and provides insight into network operations at all levels. We present performance metrics based on our performance in the Final Event of the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, demonstrating the practical successes and limitations of our approach, as well as a set of lessons learned and suggestions for future improvements.