Towards a Reduced Dependency Framework for Autonomous Unified Inspect-Explore Missions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel map-independent planning framework for Micro Aerial Vehicles to perform efficient 3-D shape inspection of unknown urban structures, enhancing situational awareness in rescue missions.

Contribution

It presents a new bifurcated approach combining exploration and inspection strategies for MAVs with limited sensing, independent of prior maps.

Findings

Validated in controlled indoor environment

Effective for unknown structure inspection

Improves MAV situational awareness

Abstract

The task of establishing and maintaining situational awareness in an unknown environment is a critical step to fulfil in a mission related to the field of rescue robotics. Predominantly, the problem of visual inspection of urban structures is dealt with view-planning being addressed by map-based approaches. In this article, we propose a novel approach towards effective use of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) for obtaining a 3-D shape of an unknown structure of objects utilizing a map-independent planning framework. The problem is undertaken via a bifurcated approach to address the task of executing a closer inspection of detected structures with a wider exploration strategy to identify and locate nearby structures, while being equipped with limited sensing capability. The proposed framework is evaluated experimentally in a controlled indoor environment in presence of a mock-up environment validating the efficacy of the proposed inspect-explore policy.