UASUV 2017 Med Unmanned Vehicles Technology | Page 45

Dr. Vaios LAPPAS
Professor of Aerospace Systems,
University of Patras
Prof V. Lappas graduated with a B. Eng in Aerospace Engineering at Ryerson University (Toronto,
Canada), his MSc in Space Technology at NASA (Goddard Space Flight Centre) through the International
Space University (France) and his PhD in Space Vehicle Control at the University of Surrey (UK). He has
led various significant research grants on satellite technology, space missions, space debris, funded by
the United Stated Air Force, NASA, Airbus, European Space Agency and the European Commission. He is
currently and a Research Professor with the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics at
the University of Patras (Greece) and a visiting Profes sor in Aerospace Systems at Cranfield University
(UK).
"The EuroSWARM project"
Autonomous Systems (AS), which unmanned swarm systems are part of, will make a significant and
revolutionary social, economic, education and research impact immediately. Use of swarm technologies
and techniques has the potential to represent more than an evolution for the military doctrine and for
the implementation of military missions: they could extend the reach and access of operations, reduce
risk to warfighters, provide increased capability across the battlespace. In the longer term, swarm
technologies can significantly reduce the cost of acquisition and operations of defence systems while
minimizing human risk. EuroSWARM has the ambitious goal to become the benchmark in the
unmanned heterogeneous swarm systems for defence applications. The EuroSWARM project objectives
are:
1. Develop the following key techniques for adaptive, informative, and reconfigurable operations of
unmanned heterogeneous swarm systems: (a) Optimal task allocation and resource management (b)
Sensor fusion (c) Cooperative guidance (d) Robust sensor network;
2. Integrate the developed techniques;
3. Validate the developed techniques based on simulations targeting specific military scenario;
4. Demonstrate the proposed solutions based on a small-scale demonstrator in both indoor and
outdoor environments.
The main output of the project will result in a modular, scalable and flexible swarm architecture which,
in combination with a low-cost demonstration based on COTS devices, will represent the first step for
the progressive uptake of unmanned swarm technology and applications in the defence sector. The
EuroSWARM autonomous swarm system of heterogeneous sensor, can become a pilot for large scale
implementation of such technology for critical European and Global challenges such as border control,
surveillance-security, and with a clear dual-use potential.