We developed an algorithm that can keep a fleet of drones in formation around a moving rover using UWB measurements. A prototype was built and tested by mounting UWB on 4 custom-made drones and a rover. A system was also developed that allows a drone to land on a platform (with 4 UWB devices on the vertices) attached to the moving rover, autonomously and with precision <15 cm. 

Odometry + UWB to keep position uncertainty in check

The other activities concerned the use of UWB for robot navigation. In one of our contributions, we exploit the onboard odometer of a robot together with UWB; it accumulates an error that grows over time but whose uncertainty is modeled and used to acquire a new (accurate) UWB measurement reducing the use and therefore the energy consumed, without detriment to accuracy.

Localization anywhere you want with battery-powered anchors

In many scenarios, the deployment of a mains-powered infrastructure is not feasible. We proposed and evaluated a system that allows the robot(s) to move in an environment aided by battery-powered anchors; an efficient protocol keeps them as much as possible in standby but can activate them quickly as soon as the rover appears in range. 

A guidance system based on deep reinforcement learning

A local planner trained with deep reinforcement learning was designed to provide a robust and noise-immune guidance system. 

Robot-assisted anchor (re)deployment