RIO-UAS localization and navigation (Robust Indoor/Outdoor Unified All-Source) in GPS denied environments for a deployment ready micro-quad or separate add-on unit Navy SBIR FY2012.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2012.1 Topic No.: N121-101 Topic Title: RIO-UAS localization and navigation (Robust Indoor/Outdoor Unified All-Source) in GPS denied environments for a deployment ready micro-quad or separate add-on unit Proposal No.: N121-101-0902 Firm: Physical Sciences Inc. 20 New England Business Center Andover, Massachusetts 01810-1077 Contact: David Manegold Phone: (978) 689-0003 Web Site: http://www.psicorp.com Abstract: Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to develop an innovative approach for dramatically improving localization in GPS denied environments for aerial and ground robots with Robust Indoor/Outdoor Unified All-Source localization and navigation. RIO-UAS is an innovative combination algorithm-hardware solution for outdoor localization and indoor SLAM photo-reconnaissance (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) in GPS denied environments. At 150g the processor and sensor-suite unit is designed for deployment on PSI's "InstantEye" micro-quad or can be integrated onto other platforms. Based on the well-tested SURF + FastSLAMv2.0 fusion algorithm, RIO-UAS can include "all-sources" of additional information including RF ranging, floor plans, HALO imagery, and topological maps., with typical sensor information; mono or stereo video, EO, LIDAR, and IR / sonic ranging. This innovative approach provides improved performance tailored to UAV and AUGV missions in unified operation across three modes; indoor (relative localization), outdoor airborne, (WGS 84) and outdoor ground (WGS 84) . This will result in the first out-of-the-box-ready, localizing, mapping, and reconnaissance micro-quad or strapdown unit that is independent of GPS. After autonomously mapping and photographing a GPS-denied region (indoor, canyon), the returned data can be presented to the user as a virtual "walk through" of the reconnaissance imagery registered to a map. Benefits: UAVs, MAVs, AUGVs, and other autonomous operations could benefit from the RIO-UAS algorithm-hardware solution. Since GPS operation may be unavailable, intermittent, or spoofed, RIO-UAS provides a unified method to seamlessly cross between all of these variations while also capitalizing and exploiting "all sources" of available information that may be used to help localize the vehicle. Numerous scenarios exist in police, military, and commercial applications where a user may wish to know the layout, and state (photographs, chemical levels, hostile occupation, etc) of the inside of any arbitrary environment (building). Related, is the task of providing absolute localization in the WGS 84 format in outdoor applications. Due to the flexibility of RIO-UAS with regards to sensor types, availability, and quality in addition to possible a-priori information in the form of maps, RIO-UAS can easily expand to accommodate operation on AUGVs deployed in canyon, caves or subterraneous environments. Return