We present a solution for autonomous forest inventory with a legged robotic platform. Compared to their wheeled and aerial counterparts, legged platforms offer an attractive balance of endurance and low soil impact for forest applications. In this paper, we present the complete system architecture of our forest inventory solution which includes state estimation, navigation, mission planning, and real-time tree segmentation and trait estimation. We present preliminary results for three campaigns in forests in Finland and the UK and summarize the main outcomes, lessons, and challenges. Our UK experiment at the Forest of Dean with the ANYmal D legged platform, achieved an autonomous survey of a 0.96 hectare plot in 20 min, identifying over 100 trees with typical DBH accuracy of 2 cm.

This paper presents a novel control strategy for drone networks to improve the quality of 3D structures reconstructed from aerial images by drones. Unlike the existing coverage control strategies for this purpose, our proposed approach simultaneously controls both the camera orientation and drone translational motion, enabling more comprehensive perspectives and enhancing the map's overall quality. Subsequently, we present a novel problem formulation, including a new performance function to evaluate the drone positions and camera orientations. We then design a QP-based controller with a control barrier-like function for a constraint on the decay rate of the objective function. The present problem formulation poses a new challenge, requiring significantly greater computational efforts than the case involving only translational motion control. We approach this issue technologically, namely by introducing JAX, utilizing just-in-time (JIT) compilation and Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) acceleration. We finally conduct extensive verifications through simulation in ROS (Robot Operating System) and show the real-time feasibility of the controller and the superiority of the present controller to the conventional method.

This paper addresses the problem of controlling multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) cooperating in a formation to carry out a complex task such as surface inspection. We first use the virtual leader-follower model to determine the topology and trajectory of the formation. A double-loop control system combining backstepping and sliding mode control techniques is then designed for the UAVs to track the trajectory. A radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) capable of estimating external disturbances is developed to enhance the robustness of the controller. The stability of the controller is proven by using the Lyapunov theorem. A number of comparisons and software-in-the-loop (SIL) tests have been conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed controller. The results show that our controller not only outperforms other state-of-the-art controllers but is also sufficient for complex tasks of UAVs such as collecting surface data for inspection. The source code of our controller can be found at https://github.com/duynamrcv/rbf_bsmc

Russia's Ministry of Defence reported Ukrainian drone strikes overnight and into Saturday. It said 26 drones were detected over the Belgorod region, 10 over Bryansk, and eight over Kursk, among several other regions. The strikes killed two people in Russia's Belgorod region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Saturday. The governors of Kursk, Kaluga and Bryansk, all in western Russia, reported strikes in their regions as well. Ukraine's air force said it shot down a Russian strategic bomber with antiaircraft missiles for the first time since the war began in 2022.

This article presents Persistence Administered Collective Navigation (PACNav) as an approach for achieving decentralized collective navigation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) swarms. The technique is inspired by the flocking and collective navigation behavior observed in natural swarms, such as cattle herds, bird flocks, and even large groups of humans. PACNav relies solely on local observations of relative positions of UAVs, making it suitable for large swarms deprived of communication capabilities and external localization systems. We introduce the novel concepts of path persistence and path similarity, which allow each swarm member to analyze the motion of others. PACNav is grounded on two main principles: (1) UAVs with little variation in motion direction exhibit high path persistence and are considered reliable leaders by other UAVs; (2) groups of UAVs that move in a similar direction demonstrate high path similarity, and such groups are assumed to contain a reliable leader. The proposed approach also incorporates a reactive collision avoidance mechanism to prevent collisions with swarm members and environmental obstacles. The method is validated through simulated and real-world experiments conducted in a natural forest.

For decades, Israel and Iran have fought a shadow war across the Middle East, trading attacks by land, sea, air and in cyberspace. A recent round of strikes -- mainly an aerial barrage by Iran against Israel last weekend -- has brought the conflict more clearly into the open and raised fears of a broader war. A retaliatory Israeli strike on an Iranian air base on Friday, however, appeared limited in scope, and analysts said it suggested an effort to pull back from the dangerous cycle and potentially move the war back into the shadows. August 2019: An Israeli airstrike killed two Iranian-trained militants in Syria, a drone set off a blast near a Hezbollah office in Lebanon and an airstrike in Qaim, Iraq, killed a commander of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia. Israel accused Iran at the time of trying to establish an overland arms-supply line through Iraq and northern Syria to Lebanon, and analysts said the strikes were aimed at stopping Iran and signaling to its proxies that Israel would not tolerate a fleet of smart missiles on its borders. January 2020: Israel greeted with satisfaction the assassination of Maj.

Iranian officials said that the Israeli strike on Friday morning was carried out by small exploding drones, a tactic that would follow a well-established pattern in Israeli attacks on Iranian military targets. As Israel has targeted Iranian defense and military officials and infrastructure, small drones -- specifically ones known as quadcopters -- have been a signature of those operations. Quadcopter drones, so named because they have four rotors, have a short flight range and can explode on impact. The drones might have been launched from inside Iran, whose radar systems had not detected unidentified aircraft entering Iranian airspace, Iranian officials said. If the drones were launched within the country, it demonstrates once again Israel's ability to mount clandestine operations in Iranian territory.

Israeli warplanes fired missiles on Iran during a retaliatory strike early Friday morning, one Western official and two Iranian officials said, suggesting that the attack included more advanced firepower than initial reports indicated. It was not immediately clear the types of missiles used, from where they were fired, whether any were intercepted by Iran's defenses or where they landed. The Western official and the Iranian officials requested anonymity to discuss classified information. Previously, Iranian officials said Friday's attack on a military base in central Iran was conducted by small aerial drones, most likely launched from inside Iranian territory. A separate group of small drones, they said soon after the attack, was shot down in the region of Tabriz, roughly 500 miles north of Isfahan.

Iranian anti-aircraft systems have shot down suspected drones near a military base in Isfahan. Iran says it was a thwarted Israeli attack. Here's what we know so far.

Israeli missiles have hit a site in Iran, ABC News reported late on Thursday, citing a U.S. official, days after Iran launched a drone strike on Israel in response to an attack at the Iranian embassy in Syria. Iran's Fars news agency said an explosion was heard at an airport in the Iranian city of Isafahan, but the cause was not immediately known. Several Iranian nuclear sites are located in Isfahan province, including Natanz, the centerpiece of Iran's uranium enrichment program. Several flights were diverted over Iranian airspace, CNN reported. Over the weekend, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles in a retaliatory strike after a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria.