Reference number : GC-2017-Q3-00481, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : Sharf, Inna (McGill University)|Sharf, Inna (Université McGill), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : Quebec|Québec, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Engage Grants for universities, program name french : Subventions d'engagement partenarial pour les universités, program purpose english : Humanitas Solutions is a Montreal-based company focusing on the development of innovative strategies for_x000D_
emergency and disaster assistance applications. As we recently witnessed with hurricane Irma, a natural or_x000D_
man-made disaster can leave behind destruction and debris of massive proportions, terrains that cannot be_x000D_
navigated and large areas without any functioning infrastructure. In such a scenario, the use of a fleet or_x000D_
possibly several fleets of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying over the area can provide valuable_x000D_
information to first responders, and for assistance over intermediate term. Some specific tasks that can be_x000D_
carried out by a UAV fleet include surveillance and information gathering, reconstruction of the map of the_x000D_
affected area for planning and managing the assistance, provision of aerial communication nodes to allow_x000D_
communication between the parties involved in the response operations, and transport of emergency supplies_x000D_
and equipment. It is the latter that will be the focus of the joint project between McGill and Humanitas, as_x000D_
proposed in this application. Given the rather limited payload capacity of a single drone, typically on the order_x000D_
of 1 kg, the task of transporting a heavier payload using several drones will be investigated in this project. In a_x000D_
disaster scenario, the payload may represent emergency medical and survival supplies or a piece of specialized_x000D_
equipment that can be shared between different aid groups. In particular, we will work towards demonstrating_x000D_
collaborative transport and delivery of a large payload using four multi-rotor UAVs. As part of this work, we_x000D_
will address a range of issues related to coordinated control and path planning for the drones, collision_x000D_
avoidance between the drones themselves, as well as, between the fleet and payload on one hand and potential_x000D_
obstacles in the environment on the other. We will work on defining and developing a specialized user_x000D_
interface to allow human supervision of the drones during this collaborative mission. All algorithms and tools_x000D_
developed will be integrated with the software environment that is being developed by Humanitas as part of its_x000D_
internal R&D efforts on UAV swarms., program purpose french : Humanitas Solutions is a Montreal-based company focusing on the development of innovative strategies for_x000D_
emergency and disaster assistance applications. As we recently witnessed with hurricane Irma, a natural or_x000D_
man-made disaster can leave behind destruction and debris of massive proportions, terrains that cannot be_x000D_
navigated and large areas without any functioning infrastructure. In such a scenario, the use of a fleet or_x000D_
possibly several fleets of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying over the area can provide valuable_x000D_
information to first responders, and for assistance over intermediate term. Some specific tasks that can be_x000D_
carried out by a UAV fleet include surveillance and information gathering, reconstruction of the map of the_x000D_
affected area for planning and managing the assistance, provision of aerial communication nodes to allow_x000D_
communication between the parties involved in the response operations, and transport of emergency supplies_x000D_
and equipment. It is the latter that will be the focus of the joint project between McGill and Humanitas, as_x000D_
proposed in this application. Given the rather limited payload capacity of a single drone, typically on the order_x000D_
of 1 kg, the task of transporting a heavier payload using several drones will be investigated in this project. In a_x000D_
disaster scenario, the payload may represent emergency medical and survival supplies or a piece of specialized_x000D_
equipment that can be shared between different aid groups. In particular, we will work towards demonstrating_x000D_
collaborative transport and delivery of a large payload using four multi-rotor UAVs. As part of this work, we_x000D_
will address a range of issues related to coordinated control and path planning for the drones, collision_x000D_
avoidance between the drones themselves, as well as, between the fleet and payload on one hand and potential_x000D_
obstacles in the environment on the other. We will work on defining and developing a specialized user_x000D_
interface to allow human supervision of the drones during this collaborative mission. All algorithms and tools_x000D_
developed will be integrated with the software environment that is being developed by Humanitas as part of its_x000D_
internal R&D efforts on UAV swarms., agreement title english : Enhanced UAV coordination for collaborative aerial delivery and transportation, agreement title french : Enhanced UAV coordination for collaborative aerial delivery and transportation, agreement number : EGP, agreement value : 25000.0, agreement start date : 2017-12-13, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019)., additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier (2017-2018 à 2018-2019)., owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada