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In this paper, we show that a micro unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with commercially available gas sensors can address environmental monitoring and gas source localization (GSL) tasks. To account for the challenges of gas sensing under real-world conditions, we present a probabilistic approach to GSL that is based on a particle filter (PF). Simulation and real-world experiments demonstrate the suitability of this algorithm for micro UAV platforms.
Insect behavior is a common source of inspiration for roboticists and computer scientists when designing gas-sensitive mobile robots. More specifically, tracking airborne odor plumes, and localization of distant gas sources are abilities that suit practical applications such as leak localization and emission monitoring. Gas sensing with mobile robots has been mostly addressed with ground-based platforms and under simplified conditions and thus, there exist a significant gap between the outstanding insect abilities and state-of-the-art robotics systems. As a step toward practical applications, we evaluated the performance of three biologically inspired plume tracking algorithms. The evaluation is carried out not only with computer simulations, but also with real-world experiments in which, a quadrocopter-based micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle autonomously follows a methane trail toward the emitting source. Compared to ground robots, micro UAVs bring several advantages such as their superior steering capabilities and fewer mobility restrictions in complex terrains. The experimental evaluation shows that, under certain environmental conditions, insect like behavior in gas-sensitive UAVs is feasible in real-world environments.
For mobile robots that operate in complex, uncontrolled environments, estimating air flow models can be of great importance. Aerial robots use air flow models to plan optimal navigation paths and to avoid turbulence-ridden areas. Search and rescue platforms use air flow models to infer the location of gas leaks. Environmental monitoring robots enrich pollution distribution maps by integrating the information conveyed by an air flow model. In this paper, we present an air flow modelling algorithm that uses wind data collected at a sparse number of locations to estimate joint probability distributions over wind speed and direction at given query locations. The algorithm uses a novel extrapolation approach that models the air flow as a linear combination of laminar and turbulent components. We evaluated the prediction capabilities of our algorithm with data collected with an aerial robot during several exploration runs. The results show that our algorithm has a high degree of stability with respect to parameter selection while outperforming conventional extrapolation approaches. In addition, we applied our proposed approach in an industrial application, where the characterization of a ventilation system is supported by a ground mobile robot. We compared multiple air flow maps recorded over several months by estimating stability maps using the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the distributions. The results show that, despite local differences, similar air flow patterns prevail over time. Moreover, we corroborated the validity of our results with knowledge from human experts.
Insect behavior is a common source of inspiration for roboticists and computer scientists when designing gas-sensitive mobile robots. More specifically, tracking airborne odor plumes and localization of distant gas sources are abilities that suit practical applications such as leak localization and emission monitoring. Gas sensing with mobile robots has been mostly addressed with ground-based platforms and under simplified conditions and thus, there exist a significant gap between the outstanding insect abilities and state of the art robotics systems. As a step towards practical applications, we evaluated the performance of three biologically inspired plume tracking algorithms. The evaluation is carried out not only with computer simulations, but also with real-world experiments in which, a quadrocopter-based micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle autonomously follows a methane trail towards the emitting source. Compared to ground robots, micro UAVs bring several advantages such as their superior steering capabilities and fewer mobility restrictions in complex terrains. The experimental evaluation shows that, under certain environmental conditions, insect like behavior in gas-sensitive UAVs is feasible in real world environments.
Carbon capture & storage (CCS) is one of the most promising technologies for greenhouse gas (GHG) management. However, an unsolved issue of CCS is the development of appropriate long-term monitoring systems for leak detection of the stored CO2. To complement already existing monitoring infrastructure for CO2 storage areas, and to increase the granularity of gas concentration measurements, a quickly deployable, mobile measurement device is needed. In this paper, we present an autonomous gas-sensitive micro-drone, which can be used to monitor GHG emissions, more specifically, CO2. Two different measurement strategies are proposed to address this task. First, the use of predefined sensing trajectories is evaluated for the task of gas distribution mapping using the micro-drone. Alternatively, we present an adaptive strategy, which suggests sampling points based on an artificial potential field (APF). The results of real-world experiments demonstrate the feasibility of using gas-sensitive micro-drones for GHG monitoring missions. Thus, we suggest a multi-layered surveillance system for CO2 storage areas.
In this paper, we show that a micro unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with commercially available gas sensors can address environmental monitoring and gas source localization (GSL) tasks. To account for the challenges of gas sensing under real-world conditions, we present a probabilistic approach for GSL that is based on a particle filter (PF). Simulation and real-world experiments demonstrate the suitability of this algorithm for micro UAV platforms.
Gas source localization with a micro-drone using bio-inspired and particle filter-based algorithms
(2013)
Gas source localization (GSL) with mobile robots is a challenging task due to the unpredictable nature of gas dispersion, the limitations of the currents sensing technologies, and the mobility constraints of ground-based robots. This work proposes an integral solution for the GSL task, including source declaration. We present a novel pseudo-gradient-based plume tracking algorithm and a particle filter-based source declaration approach, and apply it on a gas-sensitive micro-drone. We compare the performance of the proposed system in simulations and real-world experiments against two commonly used tracking algorithms adapted for aerial exploration missions.
For several applications involving multirotor aircraft, it is crucial to know both the direction and speed of the ambient wind. In this paper, an approach to wind vector estimation based on an equilibrium of the principal forces acting on the aircraft is shown. As the thrust force generated by the rotors depends on their rotational speed, a sensor to measure this quantity is required. Two concepts for such a sensor are presented: One is based on tapping the signal carrying the speed setpoint for the motor controllers, the other one uses phototransistors placed underneath the rotor blades. While some complications were encountered with the first approach, the second yields accurate measurement data. This is shown by an experiment comparing the proposed speed sensor to a commercial non-contact tachometer.
For mobile robots that operate in complex, uncontrolled environments, estimating air flow models can be of great importance. Aerial robots use air flow models to plan optimal navigation paths and to avoid turbulence-ridden areas. Search and rescue platforms use air flow models to infer the location of gas leaks. Environmental monitoring robots enrich pollution distribution maps by integrating the information conveyed by an air flow model. In this paper, we present an air flow modelling algorithm that uses wind data collected at a sparse number of locations to estimate joint probability distributions over wind speed and direction at given query locations. The algorithm uses a novel extrapolation approach that models the air flow as a linear combination of laminar and turbulent components. We evaluated the prediction capabilities of our algorithm with data collected with an aerial robot during several exploration runs. The results show that our algorithm has a high degree of stability with respect to parameter selection while outperforming conventional extrapolation approaches. In addition, we applied our proposed approach in an industrial application, where the characterization of a ventilation system is supported by a ground mobile robot. We compared multiple air flow maps recorded over several months by estimating stability maps using the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the distributions. The results show that, despite local differences, similar air flow patterns prevail over time. Moreover, we corroborated the validity of our results with knowledge from human experts.
This paper introduces a novel robotic platform for aerial remote gas sensing. Spectroscopic measurement methods for remote sensing of selected gases lend themselves for use on mini-copters, which offer a number of advantages for inspection and surveillance. No direct contact with the target gas is needed and thus the influence of the aerial platform on the measured gas plume can be kept to a minimum. This allows to overcome one of the major issues with gas-sensitive mini-copters. On the other hand, remote gas sensors, most prominently Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) sensors have been too bulky given the payload and energy restrictions of mini-copters. Here, we introduce and present the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Remote Gas Sensing (UAV-REGAS), which combines a novel lightweight TDLAS sensor with a 3-axis aerial stabilization gimbal for aiming on a versatile hexacopter. The proposed system can be deployed in scenarios that cannot be addressed by currently available robots and thus constitutes a significant step forward for the field of Mobile Robot Olfaction (MRO). It enables tomographic reconstruction of gas plumes and a localization of gas sources. We also present first results showing the gas sensing and aiming capabilities under realistic conditions.
Roboticists often take inspiration from animals for designing sensors, actuators or algorithms that control the behaviour of robots. Bio-inspiration is motivated with the uncanny ability of animals to solve complex tasks like recognizing and manipulating objects, walking on uneven terrains, or navigating to the source of an odour plume. In particular the task of tracking an odour plume up to its source has nearly exclusively been addressed using biologically inspired algorithms and robots have been developed, for example, to mimic the behaviour of moths, dungbeetles, or lobsters. In this paper we argue that biomimetic approaches to gas source localization are of limited use, primarily because animals differ fundamentally in their sensing and actuation capabilities from state-of-the-art gas-sensitive mobile robots. To support our claim, we compare actuation and chemical sensing available to mobile robots to the corresponding capabilities of moths. We further characterize airflow and chemosensor measurements obtained with three different robot platforms (two wheeled robots and one flying micro drone) in four prototypical environments and show that the assumption of a constant and unidirectional airflow, which is at the basis of many gas source localization approaches, is usually far from being valid. This analysis should help to identify how underlying principles, which govern the gas source tracking behaviour of animals, can be usefully 'translated' into gas source localization approaches that fully take into account the capabilities of mobile robots. We also describe the requirements for a reference application, monitoring of gas emissions at landfill sites with mobile robots, and discuss an engineered gas source localization approach based on statistics as an alternative to biologically-inspired algorithms.
This paper presents a sampling strategy for mobile gas sensors. Sampling points are selected using a modified artificial potential field (APF) approach, which balances multiple criteria to direct sensor measurements towards locations of high mean concentration, high concentration variance and areas for which the uncertainty about the gas distribution model is still large. By selecting in each step the most often suggested close-by measurement location, the proposed approach introduces a locality constraint that allows planning suitable paths for mobile gas sensors. Initial results in simulation and in real-world experiments with a gas-sensitive micro-drone demonstrate the suitability of the proposed sampling strategy for gas distribution mapping and its use for gas source localization.
This article presents the development and validation of an autonomous, gas sensitive microdrone that is capable of estimating the wind vector in real time using only the onboard control unit of the microdrone and performing gas distribution mapping (DM). Two different sampling approaches are suggested to address this problem. On the one hand, a predefined trajectory is used to explore the target area with the microdrone in a real-world gas DM experiment. As an alternative sampling approach, we introduce an adaptive strategy that suggests next sampling points based on an artificial potential field (APF). Initial results in real-world experiments demonstrate the capability of the proposed adaptive sampling strategy for gas DM and its use for gas source localization.
Remote gas sensors mounted on mobile robots enable the mapping of gas distributions in large or hardly accessible areas. A challenging task, however, is the generation of threedimensional distribution maps from these gas measurements.
Suitable reconstruction algorithms can be adapted, for instance, from the field of computed tomography (CT), but both their performance and strategies for selecting optimal measuring poses must be evaluated. For this purpose simulations are used, since, in contrast to field tests, they allow repeatable conditions. Although several simulation tools exist, they lack realistic models of remote gas sensors. Recently, we introduced a model for a Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) gas sensor taking into account the conical shape of its laser beam. However, the novel model has not yet been validated with experiments. In this paper, we compare our model with a real sensor device and show that the assumptions made hold.
Remote gas sensors like those based on the Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) enable mobile robots to scan huge areas for gas concentrations in reasonable time and are therefore well suited for tasks such as gas emission surveillance and environmental monitoring. A further advantage of remote sensors is that the gas distribution is not disturbed by the sensing platform itself if the measurements are carried out from a sufficient distance, which is particularly interesting when a rotary-wing platform is used. Since there is no possibility to obtain ground truth measurements of gas distributions, simulations are used to develop and evaluate suitable olfaction algorithms. For this purpose several models of in-situ gas sensors have been developed, but models of remote gas sensors are missing. In this paper we present two novel 3D ray-tracer-based TDLAS sensor models. While the first model simplifies the laser beam as a line, the second model takes the conical shape of the beam into account. Using a simulated gas plume, we compare the line model with the cone model in terms of accuracy and computational cost and show that the results generated by the cone model can differ significantly from those of the line model.
In this paper, we present and validate the concept of an autonomous aerial robot to reconstruct tomographic 2D slices of gas plumes in outdoor environments. Our platform, the so-called Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Remote Gas Sensing (UAV-REGAS), combines a lightweight Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) gas sensor with a 3-axis aerial stabilization gimbal for aiming at a versatile octocopter. While the TDLAS sensor provides integral gas concentration measurements, it does not measure the distance traveled by the laser diode’s beam nor the distribution of gas along the optical path. Thus, we complement the set-up with a laser rangefinder and apply principles of Computed Tomography (CT) to create a model of the spatial gas distribution from a set of integral concentration measurements. To allow for a fundamental ground truth evaluation of the applied gas tomography algorithm, we set up a unique outdoor test environment based on two 3D ultrasonic anemometers and a distributed array of 10 infrared gas transmitters. We present results showing its performance characteristics and 2D plume reconstruction capabilities under realistic conditions. The proposed system can be deployed in scenarios that cannot be addressed by currently available robots and thus constitutes a significant step forward for the field of Mobile Robot Olfaction (MRO).
This presentation gives an introduction to the gas-sensitive aerial robots developed at BAM, including various application examples in the field of mobile robot olfaction: gas source localization and gas distribution mapping.
The development of algorithms for mapping gas distributions and localising gas sources is a challenging task, because gas dispersion is a highly dynamic process and it is impossible to capture ground truth data. Fluid-mechanical simulations are a suitable way to support the development of these algorithms. Several tools for gas dispersion simulation have been developed, but they are not suitable for simulations of large outdoor environments. In this paper, we present a concept of how an existing simulator can be extended to handle both indoor and large outdoor scenarios.
Wireless sensor networks provide occupational health experts with valuable information about the distribution of air pollutants in an environment. However, especially low-cost sensors may produce faulty measurements or fail completely. Consequently, not only spatial coverage but also redundancy should be a design criterion for the deployment of a sensor network. For a sensor network deployed in a steel factory, we analyze the correlations between sensors and build machine learning forecasting models, to investigate how well the sensor network can compensate for the outage of sensors. While our results show promising prediction quality of the models, they also indicate the presence of spatially very limited events. We, therefore, conclude that initial measurements with, e.g., mobile units, could help to identify important locations to design redundant sensor networks.
Air pollution within industrial scenarios is a major risk for workers, which is why detailed knowledge about the dispersion of dusts and gases is necessary. This paper introduces a system combining stationary low-cost and high-quality sensors, carried by ground robots and unmanned aerial vehicles. Based on these dense sampling capabilities, detailed distribution maps of dusts and gases will be created. This system enables various research opportunities, especially on the fields of distribution mapping and sensor planning. Standard approaches for distribution mapping can be enhanced with knowledge about the environment’s characteristics, while the effectiveness of new approaches, utilizing neural networks, can be further investigated. The influence of different sensor network setups on the predictive quality of distribution algorithms will be researched and metrics for the quantification of a sensor network’s quality will be investigated.
Gas distribution mapping is important to have an accurate understanding of gas concentration levels in hazardous environments. A major problem is that in-situ gas sensors are only able to measure concentrations at their specific location. The gas distribution in-between the sampling locations must therefore be modeled. In this research, we interpret the task of spatial interpolation between sparsely distributed sensors as a task of enhancing an image's resolution, namely super-resolution. Because autoencoders are proven to perform well for this super-resolution task, we trained a convolutional encoder-decoder neural network to map the gas distribution over a spatially sparse sensor network. Due to the difficulty to collect real-world gas distribution data and missing ground truth, we used synthetic data generated with a gas distribution simulator for training and evaluation of the model. Our results show that the neural network was able to learn the behavior of gas plumes and outperforms simpler interpolation techniques.
In this paper, we present an autonomous aerial robot to reconstruct tomographic 2D slices of gas plumes in outdoor environments. Our platform, the so-called Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Remote Gas Sensing (UAV-REGAS) combines a lightweight Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) sensor with a 3-axis aerial stabilization gimbal for aiming on a versatile octocopter. The TDLAS sensor provides integral gas concentration measurements but no information regarding the distance traveled by the laser diode's beam or the distribution of the gas along the optical path. We complemented the set-up with a laser rangefinder and apply principles of Computed Tomography (CT) to create a model of the spatial gas distribution from these integral concentration measurements. To allow for a rudimentary ground truth evaluation of the applied gas tomography algorithm, we set up a unique outdoor test environment based on two 3D ultrasonic anemometers and a distributed array of 10 infrared gas transmitters. We present first results showing the 2D plume reconstruction capabilities of the system under realistic conditions.
Occupational health is an important topic, especially in industry, where workers are exposed to airborne by-products (e.g., dust particles and gases). Therefore, continuous monitoring of the air quality in industrial environments is crucial to meet safety standards. For practical and economic reasons, high-quality, costly measurements are currently only carried out sparsely, both in time and space, i.e., measurement data are collected in single day campaigns at selected locations only.
Recent developments in sensor technology enable cost-efficient gas monitoring in real-time for long-term intervals. This knowledge of contaminant distribution inside the industrial environment would provide means for better and more economic control of air impurities, e.g., the possibility to regulate the workspace’s ventilation exhaust locations, can reduce the concentration of airborne contaminants by 50%.
This paper describes a concept proposed in the project “Robot-assisted Environmental Monitoring for Air Quality Assessment in Industrial Scenarios“ (RASEM). RASEM aims to bring together the benefits of both – low- and high-cost – measuring technologies: A stationary network of low-cost sensors shall be augmented by mobile units carrying high-quality sensors. Additionally, RASEM will develop procedures and algorithms to map the distribution of gases and particles in industrial environments.
To better understand the dynamics in hazardous environments, gas distribution mapping aims to map the gas concentration levels of a specified area precisely. Sampling is typically carried out in a spatially sparse manner, either with a mobile robot or a sensor network and concentration values between known data points have to be interpolated. In this paper, we investigate sequential deep learning models that are able to map the gas distribution based on a multiple time step input from a sensor network. We propose a novel hybrid convolutional LSTM - transpose convolutional structure that we train with synthetic gas distribution data. Our results show that learning the spatial and temporal correlation of gas plume patterns outperforms a non-sequential neural network model.
The Sharp GP2Y1010AU0F is a widely used low-cost dust sensor, but despite its popularity, the manufacturer provides little information on the sensor. We installed 16 sensing nodes with Sharp dust sensors in a hot rolling mill of a steel factory. Our analysis shows a clear correlation between sensor drift and accumulated production of the steel factory. An eye should be kept on the long-term drift of the sensors to prevent early saturation. Two of 16 sensors experienced full saturation, each after around eight and ten months of operation.
This paper outlines significant advancements in our previously developed aerial gas tomography system, now optimized to reconstruct 2D tomographic slices of gas plumes with enhanced precision in outdoor environments. The core of our system is an aerial robot equipped with a custom-built 3-axis aerial gimbal, a Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) sensor for CH4 measurements, a laser rangefinder, and a wide-angle camera, combined with a state-of-the-art gas tomography algorithm. In real-world experiments, we sent the aerial robot along gate-shaped flight patterns over a semi-controlled environment with a static-like gas plume, providing a welldefined ground truth for system evaluation. The reconstructed cross-sectional 2D images closely matched the known ground truth concentration, confirming the system’s high accuracy and reliability. The demonstrated system’s capabilities open doors for potential applications in environmental monitoring and industrial safety, though further testing is planned to ascertain the system’s operational boundaries fully.
Gas Distribution Mapping (GDM) is a valuable tool for monitoring the distribution of gases in a wide range of applications, including environmental monitoring, emergency response, and industrial safety. While GDM is actively researched in the scope of gas-sensitive mobile robots (Mobile Robot Olfaction), there is a potential for broader applications utilizing sensor networks. This study aims to address the lack of deep learning approaches in GDM and explore their potential for improved mapping of gas distributions. In this paper, we introduce Gas Distribution Decoder (GDD), a learning-based GDM method. GDD is a deep neural network for spatial interpolation between sparsely distributed sensor measurements that was trained on an extensive data set of realistic-shaped synthetic gas plumes based on actual airflow measurements. As access to ground truth representations of gas distributions remains a challenge in GDM research, we make our data sets, along with our models, publicly available. We test and compare GDD with state-of-the-art models on synthetic and real-world data. Our findings demonstrate that GDD significantly outperforms existing models, demonstrating a 35% improvement in accuracy on synthetic data when measured using the Root Mean Squared Error over the entire distribution map. Notably, GDD appears to have superior capabilities in reconstructing the edges and characteristic shapes of gas plumes compared to traditional models. These potentials offer new possibilities for more accurate and efficient environmental monitoring, and we hope to inspire other researchers to explore learning-based GDM.