SPP 2433:  Metrology on flying platforms

• Subject Area: Computer Science, Systems and Electrical Engineering ; Mechanical and Industrial Engineering ; Physics
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 520857514

While drones as highly mobile, because flying platforms with cameras have been available for some time, their use as flying measurement platforms means a paradigm shift. Up to now, qualitative information has been extracted from image data, especially with artificial intelligence, while there are hardly any quantitative measurements with measurement uncertainties. But if, for example, a statement is needed about the load-bearing capacity of a damaged bridge or the structural integrity of the rotor blade of a wind turbine, only measured values with uncertainty information can lead to a reliable statement. Going beyond qualitative measurement tasks, it is therefore necessary to quantify (measurement) quantities with an associated measurement uncertainty in order to obtain a complete measurement result. As principles, active measurement methods (e.g. laser-optical, acoustic or thermal excitation and radio wave or laser scanning) that go beyond purely passive camera systems are to be made usable, or new measurement methods based on locally measuring sensor systems are to be investigated. In addition, environmental and drone influences on the measurement result as well as correction methods are to be researched. The suitability of existing sensor concepts in this respect is to be investigated and concrete progress in sensor miniaturization and the minimization of energy and power requirements is to be pursued. In the field of signal processing, advances in low-energy measurement data evaluation and transmission as well as more energy-conscious signal processing methods and communication concepts are to be pursued. Finally, the central goal of the SPP is to clarify the measurement quality achievable with the drone-based sensor and measurement systems and their dependence on the lateral influences and the resources used - space, weight, energy and time. In addition, a comparable evaluation of the measurement capabilities, based on the international "Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement" (GUM), is to be realized across projects. In summary, the aim is to understand the as yet unexploited metrological potential and limitations of mobile, drone-based measurement systems. Novel measurement principles and methods, sensor technology as well as signal processing and communication solutions in combination with the analysis of specific measurement uncertainty influences for measurements with flying platforms will be researched. By combining the individual work in the projects as well as the cross-project collaboration in the priority program, the foundations for a new paradigm will be laid: Drones as flying measurement platforms for valid, quantitative measurements with a measurement uncertainty specification. The measurement capabilities are to be documented together with the underlying research data according to a cross-project standard.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• International Connection: Australia, Finland, Italy, Switzerland

Projects

• A UAV-mounted dual-wavelength LiDAR for leaf water content retrieval (Applicants Kattenborn, Teja ;  Reiterer, Alexander )
• Air quality parameters measured with a novel drone payload – Air-Q-Drone (Applicants Lampert, Astrid ;  Wehner, Birgit )
• Airborne analytics - drone-compatible ion mobility spectrometer with optional gas chromatograph for rapid assessment of chemical hazards (Applicant Zimmermann, Stefan )
• Coordination Funds (Applicant Fischer, Andreas )
• CoPyro - Computational lensless two-colour one-sensor pyrometer for airborne quantitative temperature measurement (Applicant Meyer, Johannes )
• Development of a drone-based measurement system for real-time monitoring of volcanic gas composition (Applicant Hoffmann, Thorsten )
• Drone-based areal laser triangulation for the geometry measurement of local surface defects (Applicant Fischer, Andreas )
• Drone-based single-shot grating projection for 3D measurement of surface anomalies (Applicant Lehmann, Peter )
• Drone-mounted sensor system for the determination of nitrite and nitrate content in open waters (Applicant Gerken, Martina )
• Enhanced Raman-spectroscopic multi-gas-sensing on an airborne platform/unmanned aerial vehicle for 3D-mapping of concentrations (Applicant Frosch, Torsten )
• Enhancing Insect Tracking Precision from Drones: Fusing Multiple Sensor Data to Estimate Insect Position with Quantified Uncertainty (Applicant Straw, Andrew D. )
• Fibre-optic tactile probe to determine relative motion between a drone and a measurement object for motion correction of a short-range 3D inspection lidar (Applicant Kissinger, Thomas )
• Flying Model-Based Gas Tomography (FlyMoGaTo) (Applicants Lilienthal, Achim ;  Wiedemann, Thomas )
• Laser Doppler Vibrometer with External Laser for Flying Platforms with Radio Transmission (Applicants Durak, Umut ;  Rembe, Christian )
• Quantitative detection of water content in soil using drone-based digital radar (Applicant Waldschmidt, Christian )
• Range-extended radar sensing using flying intelligent surfaces (Applicants Mönnigmann, Martin ;  Sezgin, Aydin )
• Referenced Large-Scale Airborne Measurement System (Applicants Kästner, Markus ;  Raatz, Annika )
• Reliable measurements for safe rescue operations after building collapses (Applicants Rupitsch, Stefan J. ;  Schmitt, Katrin )
• UAV-based Imaging of Far-red Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (Applicant Bendig, Juliane )
• UAV-based near-field to far-field transformation for a detailed characterization of large outdoor emitters in operation (Applicants Jacob, Ph.D., Stefan ;  Kleine-Ostmann, Thomas )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Andreas Fischer