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An Overview of the “Volcan Project”: An UAS for Exploration of Volcanic Environments
Author(s)
Language
English
Obiettivo Specifico
1.2. TTC - Sorveglianza geochimica delle aree vulcaniche attive
Status
Published
JCR Journal
JCR Journal
Peer review journal
Yes
Title of the book
Issue/vol(year)
1-3/54(2009)
Publisher
Springer Science
Pages (printed)
471-494
Issued date
July 21, 2008
Alternative Location
Abstract
This paper presents an overview of the Volcan Project, whose goal is the
realization of an autonomous aerial system able to perform aerial surveillance of
volcanic areas and to analyze the composition of gases inside volcanic plumes. There
are increasing experimental evidences that measuring the chemical composition of
volcanic gases can contribute to forecast volcanic eruptions. However, in situ gas
sampling is a difficult operation and often exposes scientists to significant risks. At
this aim, an Unmanned Aircraft System equipped with remote sensing technologies,
able to sense the plume in the proximity of the crater, has been developed. In this
paper, the aerial platform will be presented, together with the problems related to
the flight in a hard scenario like the volcanic one and the tests performed with the
aim of finding the right configuration for the vehicle. The developed autonomous
navigation system and the sensors unit for gas analysis will be introduced; at the end,
several experimental results will be described.
realization of an autonomous aerial system able to perform aerial surveillance of
volcanic areas and to analyze the composition of gases inside volcanic plumes. There
are increasing experimental evidences that measuring the chemical composition of
volcanic gases can contribute to forecast volcanic eruptions. However, in situ gas
sampling is a difficult operation and often exposes scientists to significant risks. At
this aim, an Unmanned Aircraft System equipped with remote sensing technologies,
able to sense the plume in the proximity of the crater, has been developed. In this
paper, the aerial platform will be presented, together with the problems related to
the flight in a hard scenario like the volcanic one and the tests performed with the
aim of finding the right configuration for the vehicle. The developed autonomous
navigation system and the sensors unit for gas analysis will be introduced; at the end,
several experimental results will be described.
References
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Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 82, 889–901 (2001)
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as a platform. J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol. 13, 1024–1030 (1996)
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volcanic gas sampling UAV. In: Valavanis, K.P. (ed.) Advances in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles,
State of the Art and the Road to Autonomy. Intelligent Systems, Control and Automation:
Science and Engineering, vol. 33. Springer, New York, ISBN:978-1-4020-6113-4 (2007)
18. Astuti, G., Longo, D., Melita, C.D., Muscato, G., Orlando, A.: HIL tuning of UAV for exploration
of risky environments. In: Proceedings of the IARP Workshop HUDEM’08 Robotics for
Risky Environments and Humanitarian De-Mining. Il Cairo, Egypt, 28–30 March (2008)
19. Longo, D., Melita, D., Muscato, G., Sessa, S.: A mixed terrestrial aerial robotic platform for
volcanic and industrial surveillance. In: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on
Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics 2007. Rome (Italy), 27–29 September (2007)
20. Caltabiano, D., Muscato, G., Orlando, A., Federico, C., Giudice, G., Guerrieri, S.: Architecture
of a UAV for volcanic gas sampling. In: Proceedings of the ETFA2005 10th IEEE International
Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation. Catania, Italy, 19–22
September (2005)
21. The Aerosonde Robotic Aircraft homepage. Available at: http://www.aerosonde.com/
22. Graupner homepage. Available at: http://www.graupner.de/
494 J Intell Robot Syst (2009) 54:471–494
23. X-Plane simulator by Laminar Research homepage. Available at: http://www.x-plane.com/
24. Brown, R.G., Hwang, P.Y.C.: Introduction to Random Signals and Applied Kalman Filtering.
Wiley, New York (1992)
25. Diebel, J.: Representing Attitude: Euler Angles, Unit Quaternions, and Rotation Vectors.
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
26. Kim, A., Golnaraghi, M.F.: A quaternion-based orientation estimation algorithm using an inertial
measurement unit. In: Proceedings of the IEEE Position Location and Navigation Symposium,
2004 (2004)
27. Gebre-Egziabher, D., et al.: A gyro-free quaternion-based attitude determination system suitablefor
implementation using low cost sensors. In: Proceedings of the IEEE Position Location
and Navigation Symposium 2000 (2000)
28. Jang, J.S., Liccardo, D.: Small UAV Automation Using MEMS. IEEE A&E Systems Magazine,
pp. 30–34. May (2007)
29. Jang, J.S., Liccardo, D.: Automation of small UAVs using a low cost MEMS sensor and embedded
computing platform. In: 25th Digital Avionics Systems Conference. 15 October (2006)
30. Eldredge, A.M.: Improved state estimation for miniature air vehicles. Master’s degree thesis,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young University, December (2006)
Nature 448, 575–579 (2007)
2. Ramanathan, V., Roberts, G., Corrigan, C., Ramana, M. V., Nguyen, H.: Maldives
AUAV Campaign (MAC): observing aerosol–cloud–radiation interactions simultaneously
from three stacked autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (AUAVs). Available at:
http://www-abc-asia.ucsd.edu/MAC/MAC_proposal_FINAL_2005July05.pdf (2005)
3. Holland, G.H., et al.: The aerosonde robotic aircraft: a new paradigm for environmental observations.
Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 82, 889–901 (2001)
4. Valero, F.P.J., Pope, S.K., Ellingson, R.G., Strawa, A.W., Vitko, J. Jr.: Determination of clearsky
radiative flux profiles, heating rates, and optical depths using unmanned aerospace vehicles
as a platform. J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol. 13, 1024–1030 (1996)
5. Bland, G., Coronado, P., Miles, T., Bretthauer, J.P.: The AEROS Project experiments with small
electric powered UAVs for earth science. In: Proceedings of Infotech@Aerospace. American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 26–29 Sep. 2005, Arlington, VA, USA
6. NASA—Ames Research Center, Earth Science Division. Available at: http://geo.arc.nasa.gov/
7. NASA—Dryden Flight Research Center. Available at: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/
research/ESCD/index.html
8. Saggiani, G., et al.: A UAV system for observing volcanoes and natural hazards. AGU Fall
Meeting Abstracts (2007)
9. Patterson, M.C.L., et al. Volcano surveillance by ACR Silver Fox. Infotech@Aerospace, 26–29
September 2005, Arlington, VA
10. The ROBOVOLC project homepage. Available at: http://www.robovolc.diees.unict.it
11. Muscato, G., Caltabiano, D., Guccione, S., Longo, D., Coltelli, M., Cristaldi, A., Pecora, E.,
Sacco, V., Sim, P., Virk, G.S., Briole, P., Semerano, A., White, T.: ROBOVOLC: a robot for
volcano exploration – result of first test campaign. Ind. Robot Int. 30(3), 231–242 (2003)
12. Caltabiano, D., Muscato, G.: A robotic system for volcano exploration. In: Kordic, V., Lazinica,
A., Merdan, M. (eds.) Cutting Edge Robotics. Advanced Robotic Systems Scientific Book, pp.
499–519. Pro Literatur, Germany, ISBN:3-86611-038-3 (2005)
13. Service Robots Group – Università di Catania. Available at: http://www.robotic.diees.unict.it/
14. Aiuppa, A., Federico, C., Paonita, A., Pecoraino, G., Valenza, M.: S, Cl and F degassing as an
indicator of volcanic dynamics: the 2001 eruption of Mount Etna. Geophys. Res. Lett. 29(11),
1559 (2002). doi:10.1029/2002GL015032
15. Symonds, R., Rose, W.I., Bluth, G.J.S., Gerlach, T.M.: Volcanic-gas studies: methods, results
and applications. In: Carroll, M.R., Halloway, J.R. (eds.) Volatiles in Magmas. Reviews in
Mineralogy, vol. 30, pp. 1–66. Mineralogical Society of America, Chantilly, VA (1994)
16. Stix, J., Gaonac’h, H.: Gas, plume and thermal monitoring. In: Sigurdsson, H. (ed.) Encyclopædia
of Volcanoes, pp. 1141–1164. Academic, New York (2000)
17. Astuti, G., Longo, D., Melita, D., Muscato, G., Orlando, A.: Hardware in the loop tuning for a
volcanic gas sampling UAV. In: Valavanis, K.P. (ed.) Advances in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles,
State of the Art and the Road to Autonomy. Intelligent Systems, Control and Automation:
Science and Engineering, vol. 33. Springer, New York, ISBN:978-1-4020-6113-4 (2007)
18. Astuti, G., Longo, D., Melita, C.D., Muscato, G., Orlando, A.: HIL tuning of UAV for exploration
of risky environments. In: Proceedings of the IARP Workshop HUDEM’08 Robotics for
Risky Environments and Humanitarian De-Mining. Il Cairo, Egypt, 28–30 March (2008)
19. Longo, D., Melita, D., Muscato, G., Sessa, S.: A mixed terrestrial aerial robotic platform for
volcanic and industrial surveillance. In: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on
Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics 2007. Rome (Italy), 27–29 September (2007)
20. Caltabiano, D., Muscato, G., Orlando, A., Federico, C., Giudice, G., Guerrieri, S.: Architecture
of a UAV for volcanic gas sampling. In: Proceedings of the ETFA2005 10th IEEE International
Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation. Catania, Italy, 19–22
September (2005)
21. The Aerosonde Robotic Aircraft homepage. Available at: http://www.aerosonde.com/
22. Graupner homepage. Available at: http://www.graupner.de/
494 J Intell Robot Syst (2009) 54:471–494
23. X-Plane simulator by Laminar Research homepage. Available at: http://www.x-plane.com/
24. Brown, R.G., Hwang, P.Y.C.: Introduction to Random Signals and Applied Kalman Filtering.
Wiley, New York (1992)
25. Diebel, J.: Representing Attitude: Euler Angles, Unit Quaternions, and Rotation Vectors.
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
26. Kim, A., Golnaraghi, M.F.: A quaternion-based orientation estimation algorithm using an inertial
measurement unit. In: Proceedings of the IEEE Position Location and Navigation Symposium,
2004 (2004)
27. Gebre-Egziabher, D., et al.: A gyro-free quaternion-based attitude determination system suitablefor
implementation using low cost sensors. In: Proceedings of the IEEE Position Location
and Navigation Symposium 2000 (2000)
28. Jang, J.S., Liccardo, D.: Small UAV Automation Using MEMS. IEEE A&E Systems Magazine,
pp. 30–34. May (2007)
29. Jang, J.S., Liccardo, D.: Automation of small UAVs using a low cost MEMS sensor and embedded
computing platform. In: 25th Digital Avionics Systems Conference. 15 October (2006)
30. Eldredge, A.M.: Improved state estimation for miniature air vehicles. Master’s degree thesis,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young University, December (2006)
Type
article