What is your academic background and how have your research interests in autonomous vehicles developed?

I received my PhD in mechanical engineering at the University of Toronto in 1998. Prior to that, I completed my Master’s degree in fl ight control at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and my Bachelor’s degree in control engineering at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. After my PhD, I joined AlliedSignal (now Honeywell) Aerospace, Canada, in the systems engineering fi eld. I came to the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto in 2000 to start my academic career and have been working on R&D in the fi eld of fl ight systems and control ever since. It was around 2005 that I started to develop my research interests in autonomous aerial vehicles, when I started to realise that my earlier research on aircraft systems and control could improve the level of autonomy of vehicles.

Could you briefl y summarise what your two testbeds are used for?

I have two testbeds in my research lab: a fl ight systems simulation platform and an unmanned vehicle system platform. The fi rst testbed allows quick systems modelling, integration and testing strategies of conventional airplanes, while the second gives us the opportunity to develop unmanned aerial and ground vehicles and conduct proof-of-concept experiments.

In what situations have your unmanned vehicles been used and do you have any success stories?

During the fi re testing, we headed to the test fi eld near Sudbury, Ontario – a fi ve-hour drive north from Toronto – which is the same

place that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) trains the fi refi ghters. Our test mission involved launching one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), fl ying it over a specifi c area and detecting fi res. A number of fi refi ghters volunteered to set up a fi re across an area that measured 1x2 km. Using on-board sensors – cameras and thermal cameras – the UAV picked up the fi re and reported the location immediately through wireless communication. At the ground station, the monitor shows the fl ight path and a red dot pops up when a fi re is detected. Of 10 fi res, we successfully detected nine – the last one was out of our fl ight range – to a very high degree of accuracy.

Could you explain the uniqueness of your group’s efforts to integrate fl ight dynamics and control for design optimisation?

Our designs are custom built, targeting specifi c applications. Importantly, we design from a systems perspective, with an overarching focus on integration and overall mission performance improvement. Our designs have also been through rigorous fl ight experimental verifi cations.

How will UAV data during fi re detection be communicated to the human fi re crew to ensure a cohesive fi re management operation?

Unmanned vehicle data will complement the skills and resources of the human fi re crew. The UAVs are able to fl y at night, perform tedious tasks and, crucially, they provide the fi re crew with extra information about the fi re.

Do you foresee any potential public safety or security concerns relating to unmanned vehicles? How do you plan to combat these?

Unmanned, autonomous vehicles have a greater level of authority – and it is therefore only natural that safety and security are

concerns to the general public. To combat these concerns, it is important to add more safety features, to conduct more extensive simulations and to be extra cautious in the operation of the vehicle. We also need to reach out to the public to help raise their awareness about these vehicles. In addition, our designs and tests are all operated under Transport Canada License.

How important are your collaborations with the MNRF and others to your development of autonomous unmanned vehicles? What have been their contributions to the project?

Over the years, we have had the good fortune of receiving support from various sources, from government agencies to those in the private sector. Because of my application-orientated research, it is critical that we receive endorsement from collaborating partners – both industry and academia – on several fronts. They provide real-life challenges and real scenarios, as well as constructive feedback and suggestions. My collaborators also complement my expertise, enabling us to offer better service.

You regularly involve undergraduate and postgraduate students in your research. How does their contribution help further project aims and the promotion of the Canadian aerospace sector?

Students are given well-defi ned R&D topics. They are trained through systematic study and rigorous research. Sometimes they collaborate directly with industry partners, which has created wonderful opportunities for the students in terms of employment. They are becoming leaders in the Canadian aerospace sector.

Professor Hugh Liu is an internationally renowned researcher in the fi eld of aircraft systems and control. In this interview, he discusses how his background in mechanical engineering and systems engineering has led him to focus on enhancing the performance of autonomous aerial vehicles

Aerial advances PROFESSO

R HU

GH

LIU

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AS THE COUNTRY with the second highest land mass, Canada has 10 per cent of the world’s forests. Covering over half of the land in Canada, forests and their resources are of vital social and economic importance to Canadians.The forest sector provides employment for hundreds of thousands of people, while forest products make a major contribution to Canada’s surplus balance of trade. Forests are also important for the environment, moderating the climate and protecting biodiversity.

However, some 7,400 forest fi res have occurred in Canada every year for the past decade, consuming an average of 1.9 million hectares of forest per year. On one hand, these wildland fi res are a natural part of the forest ecosystem, playing an important role in the forest renewal cycle. However, uncontrolled forest fi res can sometimes be dangerous and destructive, threatening communities

and diminishing vital timber resources. Fire control strategies – including the monitoring and fi ghting of these fi res – are therefore a fundamental part of forest management and emergency services in Canada.

A NOVEL STRATEGY

The successful monitoring and control of wildfi res depends on near real-time information regarding where and how the fi res are spreading, with access to such information subsequently allowing forest management and emergency authorities to plan and execute effective response strategies. However, current satellite-based imaging techniques for the detection of wildfi res are often inadequate, failing to provide the full extent of real-time information about the dynamic spread of fi re fronts. Moreover, in pilot-operated aviation monitoring systems there are risks regarding the safety of the pilot.

In recent years, advances in unmanned vehicle systems technology have driven an emerging body of research on the use and effectiveness of unmanned vehicles in providing real-time wildfi re monitoring. One prominent researcher in this area is Professor Hugh Liu, who is based at the Institute of Aerospace Studies in the University of Toronto. Liu currently leads an ambitious research project aiming to create a novel strategy for the online mapping of dynamic fi re fronts. The strategy involves deploying a fl eet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to map and track forest fi res, which operate in coordination with unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) whose task it is to perform various search and rescue protection tasks based on the information obtained by the UAVs. The project is highly translatable, with important prospective benefi ts for forest fi re control: “By concentrating on developing on-board hardware and software to allow UAVs to fl y autonomously in formation, we are aiming to make signifi cant contributions to wildfi re research and management,” affi rms Liu.

ADVANCING AUTONOMY AND FORMATION

Indeed, two focal points of Liu’s research are autonomy and formation in the context of UAVs. Autonomy refers to the fact that the vehicle is programmed with a degree of self-governing freedom that goes beyond the boundaries of human constraints. For example,

Aerospace applicationsResearchers from the Flight Systems and Control Laboratory at the Institute for Aerospace Studies in the University of Toronto, Canada, are developing technology to improve the performance of unmanned vehicle systems for wildfi re management and other applications

BREAKING CONVENTIONS

Liu and his colleagues in the Flight Systems and Control Laboratory are also studying the dynamics and control of conventional aircraft. Their research focuses on two unconventional areas:

• Firstly, they are investigating fault control in damaged aircrafts. If an accident occurs and a part of the aircraft suffers structural damage, the system could automatically use alternative, undamaged parts to provide similar functions: “Our research focuses on what these alternative solutions are, when and how to use them, and how much ‘tolerance’ the aircraft allows for the level of damage before it loses control,” Liu outlines

• Secondly, they are exploring new aircraft designs that are greener, lighter and more fl exible. These designs are often slimmer and have longer wings or even unconventional confi gurations. Ultimately, the aim is to ensure that the resulting environmental and economic benefi ts of these designs are both feasible and deliverable

PROFESSOR HUGH LIU

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AUTONOMOUS UNMANNED VEHICLE SYSTEMS TESTBED FOR WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT

OBJECTIVES

• To develop integrated hardware and software on board unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to enable them to fl y autonomously in formation

• To improve intelligence features in order for UAVs to change path, avoid obstacles or collision, and make moves based on mission requirements

• To integrate specialised sensors for specifi c fl ight missions such as wildfi re management

KEY COLLABORATORS

Dr Mike Wotton, Research Scientist, Canadian Forest Service, Adjuct Professor, Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto • Professor Wai T Ng, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Univesity of Toronto • Professor Yuxiang Wang, Biology, Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada

PARTNERS

Quanser Consulting Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada • Micropilot, Stony Mountain, Manitoba, Canada • Brican Flight Systems, Brampton, Ontario, Canada • Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Ontario

FUNDING

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant • NSERC Strategic Project Grant • FedDev Ontario Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative • Ontario Centre of Excellence

CONTACT

Professor Hugh Liu

Institute for Aerospace StudiesUniversity of Toronto4925 Dufferin StreetToronto, OntarioM3H 5T6Canada

T +1 416 667 7928E liu@utias.utoronto.ca

www.fl ight.utias.utoronto.ca

HUGH LIU obtained his PhD in 1998 from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is currently Professor at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, where he also serves as Associate Director of Graduate Studies and leads the Flight Systems and Control Research Laboratory. Liu is an internationally leading researcher in the area of aircraft systems and control and has published over 100 technical papers in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. He also holds a patent for his work on motion synchronisation.

TOWARDS A LEADING-EDGE LAB

Liu’s Flight Systems and Control Lab hosts a range of innovative research projects that aim to improve or optimise the performance of aircraft systems. The projects span a range of areas, including fl ight systems modelling, simulation and control, and multi-vehicle systems estimation and control. There is also a strong focus on the civil and commercial applications of unmanned vehicle systems, such as natural recourse monitoring, infrastructure inspection, agricultural and mineral exploration, journalism and search and rescue operations. The long-term objective of the Lab is that it will achieve global recognition for its knowledge, projects and highly qualifi ed staff.

UAVs have the authority to make decisions and undertake acrobatic manoeuvres; however, at the same time, a human still plays a supervisory role from the ground, poised to take over if an emergency occurs. In their studies, Liu and his team are attempting to enhance and develop the autonomy and intelligence of UAVs, enabling them to change paths independently, avoid obstacles and collisions, and make different movements based on the requirements of the mission.

Formation fl ight refers to a group of UAVs fl ying together in cooperation – and there are several key benefi ts to this characteristic. For instance, fl ying in formation allows the UAVs to monitor a larger area than would a single UAV when operating alone and, additionally, it means that the mission can still be achieved even if one vehicle fails to deliver. Moreover, many current UAVs are small, affordable and easy to operate. “If fl ying multiple vehicles, we could distribute the payload by allocating them among different vehicles,” Liu adds. “Interestingly, such a heterogeneous payload distribution system could create novel opportunities in fl ying missions.”

To date, Liu and his group have developed patented technology in formation control and successfully proven its effectiveness through conducting licenced fi eld fl ight tests. Importantly, all of their research fl ights have received approval from Transport Canada’s Special Flight Operation Certifi cate (SFOC) programme – an endorsement required by Canadian law. In addition to their project on wildfi re monitoring, Liu and his colleagues

are collaborating with biologists to apply formation control technology to the inspection of fresh water resources. And, in a related and more complex line of research, the team is also investigating strategies for the coordinated operation of both unmanned aerial and ground vehicles.

FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Over the course of the next fi ve years, Liu and his team foresee that their innovative project will meet two major objectives: fi rstly, the improved estimation and prediction of the fi re frontline by UAVs fl ying in formation and, secondly, enhanced fi re prevention and protection strategies through the deployment of UGVs operating under the guidance of UAVs. Grounded in thorough and systematic theoretical research, the project will focus on testing the technical feasibility of its novel strategies through laboratory experiments, comprehensive simulations and fl ight demonstrations in controlled fi re environments.

Looking further ahead, if Liu and his team successfully meet their short-term project goals, the next step is to establish strategic partnerships with fi re research professionals. Excitingly, this would enable them to translate their research fi ndings into practice and conduct fi eld tests that work in tandem with existing wildfi re management methods. Eventually, the hope is that the technological advances driven by their research will lead to signifi cant opportunities for commercialisation.

UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES IN TEST MODE

INTELLIGENCE

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