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Software4Robots

Komplexe Robotiksoftware in der Zivilen Sicherheit

Fast facts

Organizational unit
Topic
Digitization
Contact person
Category
- Federal project
Funding source
Federal Ministry of Education and Research - BMBF,Fachhochschule Dortmund
Funding program
BMBF IngenieurNachwuchs - Kooperative Promotionen,Eigenanteil FH
Duration
10/2017 – 09/2021

About the project

Project type	Public funding (BMBF, FH Ingenieurnachwuchs)
Duration	4 years

Complex robotics software in civil security

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are making increasing inroads from the toy sector (drones) into professional use. The advantages for firefighting, fire prevention and the monitoring of critical infrastructures have been recognized by fire departments and aid organizations. UAVs have reached a technological maturity that will enable them to enter the market in the near future.

However, they have not yet been approved for civil use in Europe because the systems are subject to the same regulations as commercial aircraft. Solutions are urgently needed, as Chinese and American companies have dominated the market to date.

An important enabler for a European UAV market is affordable development tools and software systems that can also be used by SMEs, especially in the open source sector. Software4Robots aims to design and develop modular and open software architectures and tools for this purpose.

The project is being carried out as part of two doctoral projects with CITEC/Bielefeld University. The partner Institute for Fire and Rescue Technology provides the link to civil security research. The partner Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California opens up international access in the field of space travel. Validation and testing is carried out via the partner smart mechatronics GmbH.

In addition to the doctoral projects, Master's and Bachelor's theses are planned. Master's students will develop scenarios and test and evaluate tools in summer schools and seminars. Publications (primarily with the JPL) will be produced on the basis of the work. Through the project, the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL) is expanding its expertise in the field of open source tools and software architectures.

The results are published as open source software (via Eclipse). They give SMEs access to the rapidly growing market for software for complex UAVs and give German and European industry the opportunity to compete