Drone Research Project

AUDROS

Demonstration project for the usage of fully autonomous drones in security CBRNe, sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA)

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About the Project

AUDROS

Project Funding

The project is financed by the Czech Republic’s contribution to the ESA Space Solutions program.

Project Details

Official project website

Related Links

ESA Feasibility study

BizGarden PressRelease

EDA Article

Fly4Future was a part of the Czech-Polish consortium of companies for the AUDROS project, a demonstration project for the usage of fully autonomous drones in security CBRNe (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) applications. The project was sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA) and European Defense Agency (EDA).

The teams tackled technical issues, such as the drone’s fully autonomous take-off and landing, ensuring flight safety to avoid endangering the intervening units or disrupting the operation of other aircraft in the area of interest. They also addressed the collection and transmission of data, along with its display and evaluation for intervening teams in real time.

The goal of the project was to implement a fully functional solution under real-world conditions and to make the sensor assembly modular and industrially scalable for commercial production and application.

For the demonstration project, two applications were selected based on the premise of a fully autonomous drone-based system, implying that the operator no longer intervenes in the drone’s operation after setting up the operating parameters. The first application is for monitoring large-scale interventions, such as fires in industrial facilities or large-scale accidents. The second application is an automatic system for capturing enemy drones carrying potentially dangerous CBRNe cargo, spray substances, radioactive substances, or explosives.

Application

Military & Defense

A small drone carrying a CBRNe weapon represents a significant threat, requiring necessary action.

Prison Guarding

The use of drones to traffic drugs and weapons is predicted to become a widespread issue.

Critical Infrastructure Protection

A growing number of serious incidents involving critical infrastructure, including terrorist activities and cyber threats, require new approaches to protection.

Solution

Fly4Future solution for capturing enemy drones

The Fly4Future team has developed a software solution for capturing enemy drones, which was demonstrated in the deployment of drone hunters by the drone hub.

The control handover process starts with the drone hunter’s deployment from the ground-based drone hub. The Terrestrial Control Station sends signals via WiFi, received by a radio transceiver using the Ethernet protocol. These commands or positions are then sent to an autopilot Pixhawk 4 Mavlink protocol via UART. This Pixhawk is directly connected to an onboard computer controlling autonomous flight. If a command for autonomous flight mode is detected, the onboard computer immediately takes over flight control. Since the intruder (UAV) is likely to be moving, its position may change by the time the hunter reaches the given location. Therefore, the Terrestrial Control Station can update the intruder’s position at any time, causing the hunter’s onboard computer to navigate immediately to the new target position. The operator can halt the autonomous flight mode and switch the drone hunter back to manual flight mode by sending the appropriate command. In this scenario, the hunter immediately stops its current action and stays in its current position, waiting for further commands.