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ABSTRACT: Operation of networks of heterogeneous vehicles and sensors imposes many technical and operational challenges. Simultaneous control of multiple vehicle types requires abstraction any device-specific details and to keep human operators in the loop by providing them a good overall picture of the current system state. In this paper, we present the Neptus command and control infrastructure for such operations, in terms of its evolution and current-day architecture. Neptus supports the various phases of vehicle and sensor operations abstracting vehicle and sensor specificities by considering vehicles as maneuver providers and using open standards for communication and data storage. Operators are kept in the loop by using adaptable interfaces which can be tailored to specific operators, vehicles or mission scenarios. Neptus has been used numerous times for field-testing unmanned vehicles and in several demonstrations of multi-vehicle operations.
Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (AIS), 2010 International Conference on; 07/2010
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ABSTRACT: This paper presents recent developments from the Underwater Systems and Technology Laboratory in order to integrate data received simultaneously from static and free-moving wireless sensors as well as unmanned vehicles, allowing real-time access of data using ubiquitous technologies. Live data is communicated using pre-established XML data formats and using the HTTP protocol for communication. Compatible systems may both send or receive this data following a publish/subscribe design pattern. Here, we describe the architecture as well as the various systems that make part of it: operational consoles, unmanned vehicles, wireless sensor networks and drifting sensors. The entire system is evaluated by presenting results from a real-world experiment.
OCEANS 2009 - EUROPE; 06/2009
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ABSTRACT: This paper presents the Inter-Module Communication (IMC) protocol, a message-oriented protocol designed and implemented in the Underwater Systems and Technology Laboratory (LSTS) to build interconnected systems of vehicles, sensors and human operators that are able to pursue common goals cooperatively by exchanging real-time information about the environment and updated objectives. IMC abstracts hardware and communication heterogeniety by providing a shared set of messages that can be serialized and transferred over different means. The described protocol contrasts with other existing application level protocols by not imposing or assuming a specific software architecture for client applications. Native support can be automatically generated for different programming languages and/or computer architectures resulting in optimized code which can be used both for networked nodes and also for inter-process and inter-thread communication. The protocol has already been tested throughout various experiments led by LSTS where it has taken care of communications between vehicles, sensors and operator consoles. We are now developing the protocol in the direction of having multi-vehicle cooperation using live data from environmental sensors and mixed-initiative user interaction.
OCEANS 2009 - EUROPE; 06/2009
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E.R.B. Marques,
J. Pinto,
S. Kragelund, P.S. Dias,
L. Madureira,
A. Sousa,
M. Correia,
H. Ferreira,
R. Goncalves,
R. Martins,
D.P. Horner,
A.J. Healey,
G.M. Goncalves,
J.B. Sousa
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ABSTRACT: Underwater acoustic networks can be quite effective to establish communication links between autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and other vehicles or control units, enabling complex vehicle applications and control scenarios. A communications and control framework to support the use of underwater acoustic networks and sample application scenarios are described for single and multi-AUV operation.
OCEANS 2007 - Europe; 07/2007
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ABSTRACT: The C3I (command, control, communication and information) Neptus framework which is being developed at the Underwater Systems and Technology Laboratory (USTL/LSTS) is presented. Neptus is a modular mixed initiative framework (human operators in the control loop) for the operation of heterogeneous teams of vehicles such as autonomous and remotely operated underwater, surface, land, and air vehicles. Neptus is composed of mission and vehicle planning, supervision, and post-mission analysis modules which are provided as services across a network. This paper focus mainly on the mission definition module with the presentation of MDL - a XML based language for mission definition
Robotics and Automation, 2006. ICRA 2006. Proceedings 2006 IEEE International Conference on; 06/2006
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ABSTRACT: This paper describes the development of a C3I (communications, command, control and intelligence/information) infrastructure, taking place at the Underwater Systems and Technology Laboratory (LSTS) of FEUP. This infrastructure, the Neptus framework, goal is to support the coordinated operation of heterogeneous teams, which include autonomous and remotely operated underwater, surface, land, and air vehicles and people. People perform a fundamental role, not only in the case of remotely operated vehicles, but also with autonomous vehicles where mix-initiative operation is a requirement. The operational scenarios for these teams are mainly environmental monitoring missions but could also include environmental disaster scenarios, rescue missions, etc. The Neptus distributed architecture is service oriented, which enables high degrees of interoperability between applications, of scalability (number of nodes), and of reconfiguration (number and type of nodes).
Oceans 2005 - Europe; 07/2005
