Lead Investigators: Dr. Maurice Fallon (Oxford) & Dr. Stefan Leutenegger
The project’s primary objective is to develop real-time visual mapping and inspection capability. This research strand will integrate Dr. Stefan Leutenegger’s world-leading work on dense, highly accurate object-level 3D reconstruction with ongoing ORCA work on large scale mapping. Aerial mapping systems will be provided by Imperial College London which will be paired with the University of Oxford’s terrestrial mapping capabilities. The sensor payloads and algorithms which will be used will overlap (thus driving collaboration) and the final demonstration will show coordinated mapping between the aerial and
terrestrial platforms.
A secondary objective involves Dr. Fallon’s contribution to the Cerberus Team currently competing in the international DARPA Subterranean Challenge (“SubT”, running until 2021). Cerberus is developing a team of six simultaneously-exploring aerial and legged robots to inspect and map in hazardous underground environments. Specifically Dr. Fallon’s team is contributing with their legged platform, ANYmal. Our intention is that alignment with the DARPA competition will help direct and accelerate the progress of the SWIFT project’s UK collaboration.
