Raghvendra Cowlagi, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), conducts research on a number of problems related to the challenges presented by autonomous vehicles, including optimal methods for planning and controlling their movements. Much of his research focuses on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones. In one current project, he is developing methods that will allow teams of unmanned aerial and terrestrial vehicles (UXVs) to cooperate as they respond to emergencies, including natural disasters.
Autonomous vehicles – aircraft, cars, rovers, over- and underwater vehicles that can move in the real world by themselves without human pilotage – have gained immense importance not only due to the broad spectrum of their potential military and civilian applications, but also due to the concurrent development of sensor technology and embedded systems that enable the realization of true autonomy. These vehicles may be assigned tasks that are dull and/or repetitive, such as mobile surveillance or cleaning and maintenance; tasks that are dangerous for humans, such as military transportation via hostile territory, large-scale fire fighting, and repair and recovery operations in chemical plants and nuclear reactors; or tasks that are prohibitively expensive for humans to execute, such as the exploration of celestial bodies. Learn more.
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