Main facilities

 

GRVC test field – Plaza del Agua

The GRVC also has the Aerial Robotics Laboratory with large indoor 20mx15mx7m testbed with high accuracy (mm) Optitrack system with 28 cameras. The size of them are 20mx15mx7m and its objective is monitoring and track translation and orientation of objects. Other applications for these type of cameras are animation, virtual reality, tracking objects, movement sciences, robotics, tracking ground robots and drones.

 

 

Collaborations in facilities

ATLAS

Experimental Flight Center located in Villacarrillo (Jaén) dedicated entirely to experimentation with unmanned aircraft technologies and systems. It has a 600-metre long main runway and a 400-metre long auxiliary grass runway, a waiting apron and taxiway for access to the runways, a special landing area for small helicopters and a three-storey technical building for mission planning and monitoring. It also has several independent hangars with maintenance and repair workshops and other facilities for the centre’s logistical-technical support, as well as a segregated airspace reserve with an approximate extension of more than a thousand square metres.

VICON Indoor Testbed CATEC

This indoor positioning system uses 20 VICON cameras. This system can calculate the position and attitude of any moving object within the volume of the testbed (15x15x5 m) in real time. The Advanced Center for Aerospace Technologies (CATEC) is a center implemented and managed by the Andalusian Foundation for Aerospace Development (FADA). Currently, CATEC continues to work intensely in the generation of knowledge through the implementation of research and development projects both internally and in collaboration with companies and organizations at the regional, national and European levels.

Available platforms

Land Platforms

Pioneer 3-AT

The PIONEER 3-AT is a highly versatile four-wheel drive robotic platform. Powerful, easy, reliable, flexible, P3-AT is a performer for outdoor or rough-terrain projects. Has an embedded computer option, onboard vision processing, Ethernet-based communications, laser and DGPS.

Bobcat

A commercial 4×4 gasoline Bobcat 2200 vehicle. Modified to remotely control speed and turn. It has a 2D lidar installed and, thanks to the big size of the system, no weight restriction for the payload. It can operate in any kind of environment.

8×8 AGV

Each wheel of the 8×8 AGVhas an independent traction and direction, these features make the vehicle capable of move in almost any environment. It is controlled by a Pixhawk(Px4) autopilot. His design can hold a variety of payload, up to 6kg can be carried.

Aerial Platforms

MBZIRC Hexarotor

Self-designed hexarotor, controlled with a Pixhawk (Px4) autopilot. An intel Nuc (I5) is also embedded for more computational capability. It works with ROS and it can be simulated with Gazebo. Payload includes among others: laser sensors, GPS, stereo camera and an electromagnet. Self-designed robotics arms are also used in this platform. This provides a multitask aerial robot.

DJI Matrice 600

Flying platform designed for professional aerial photography and industrial applications. It is built to closely integrate with a host of powerful DJI technologies, including the A3 flight controller, Lightbridge 2 transmission system, Intelligent Batteries and Battery Management system, for maximum performance and quick setup. This excellent features make it capable of use self-designed robotic arms as payload.

DJI F550

Comercial DJI hexacopter. Much smaller than the others, it can only carry GPS and little cameras. The autopilot is a Pixhawk (Px4) and it is programmed with ROS/Ubuntu.

Darius

Self-designed hexacopter, designed for being able to accomplish a variety of tasks. It can be controlled with two different types of autopilots: Pixhawk (Px4) and Naza V3. It can carry up to 8kg of payload, including robotic arms. It is also foldable.

AMUSE

Self-designed octocopter controlled by a pixhawk autopilot with an Intel Nuc (I5) for extra computational capabilities. It also has a Jexton TX1 GPU and a velodyne 3D laser as extra payload. It is designed for accomplish different task, using different types of sensors, like stereo cameras, laser sensors, GPS, altimeters, etc.

Other Platforms

Ranger

A commercial fixed wing drone specially designed for FPV flights. It offers a lot of space inside the body for FPV equipment and cameras. It is compatible with most of the camera supports models. A perfect system for FPV flights and video recording. It can also carry a lot of payload compared with other models of the same weight.

RX-90

Two commercial RX-90 robotic arms. They can cooperate with each other to do different tasks. Controlled with Ubuntu/ROS thanks to self-designed programs. These robots have unique features that make them adaptable to all industries, including sensitive environments. Load capacity maximum of 6kg and used for small structure building and objects resistance tests, among other tasks.

Skysurfer

First person view system, thought-out for training UAV pilots. If offers a great manoeuvrability. This is a four-channel model featuring rudder, elevator, ailerons and ESC motor control. The model can be used as a first trainer thanks to its forgiving nature and stability, it’s also super durable due to the EPOFLEXY material it’s made from.

Talon

Features a strong foam body internally reinforced with carbon fibre, parachute recovery and belly landing available, 24 megapixel camera with many other sensor options, automatic lens cover door, easy hand-launch, 5 minutes setup time, 2 hours of endurance, easy to transport and +30km link range. It is controlled with a pixhawk autopilot ¡ with an embedded Odroid, but it also has a Raspberry on board. The camera is a Xiaomi Yi Cenital.

Aerial Manipulator

The mechatronic design of aerial manipulators is severely limited by the payload of the aerial platform.  Installing arms with several DOFs involves the use of compact actuators, which also constraint the payload of the arm itself and its capacity to apply forces. Then, aerial manipulator controllers have to deal with the dynamic coupling of the movement of the arms, the disturbances of the contact forces and the weight of grasped objects.