cooperation; last updated: November 2, 2004
 
 



credits to:

Prof. Dario Floreano, Jean-Christophe Zufferey;
Yannick Fournier
Autonomous Systems Laboratory (http://asl.epfl.ch), Institute of Systems Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland

- supported by University of Art and Design Zurich, HGKZ






engineer: Yannick Fourier






















Evolution Applied to Physical Flying Robots: the Blimp Evolving aerial robots brings a new set of challenges. The major issues of developing (evolving, e.g. using goevo) a control system for an airship, with respect to a wheeled robot, are (1) the extension to three dimensions, (2) the impossibility to communicate to a computer via cables, (3) the difficulty of defining and measuring performance, and (4) the more complex dynamics. For example, while the Khepera is controlled in speed, the blimp is controlled in thrust (speed derivative) and can slip sideways. Moreover, inertial and aerodynamic forces play a major role. Artificial evolution is a promising method to automatically develop control systems for complex robots, but it requires machines that are capable of moving for long periods of time without human intervention and withstanding shocks. Those requirements led us to the development of the Blimp 2 shown in the pictures. All onboard electronic components are connected to a microcontroller with a wireless connection to a desktop computer. The bidirectional digital communication with the desktop computer is handled by a Bluetooth radio module, allowing more than 15 m range. The energy is provided by a Li-Poly battery, which lasts more than 3 hours under normal operation, during evolutionary runs with goevo. For now, a simple linear camera is attached in front of the gondola, pointing forward. We are currently working on other kinds of micro-cameras. Other embedded sensors are an anemometer for fitness evaluation, a MEMS gyro for yaw rotation speed estimate, and a distance sensors for altitude measurements.
http://asl.epfl.ch/?content=research/projects/
AdaptiveVisionbasedFlyingRobots/