New AI navigation prevents crashes

A new collision-avoidance system developed by students at the University of Cincinnati is getting engineers closer to developing robots that can fix broken satellites or spacecraft in orbit.

"We have to provide a reliable collision-avoidance algorithm that operates in real time for autonomous systems to perform a mission safely. So we proposed a new collision-avoidance system using explainable artificial intelligence," Choi said.

UC researchers tested their system in simulations, first by deploying robots in a two-dimensional space.

The collision-avoidance system works as well in a three-dimensional space for drones or flying cars.

If an autonomous robot accidentally bumps a satellite that it intends to repair, the collision can send the robot, the satellite or both spinning wildly out of control.

UC's Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics is among many academic, government and industry leaders working on this problem known as On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing.

UC's system relies on a type of artificial intelligence called explainable AI. It uses fuzzy logic, a system that relies on degrees of truth rather than a binary right or wrong.

The system allows engineers to understand the relationship between inputs and outputs through observed rules.

"Artificial intelligence has been applied in many different places, but not much in aerospace engineering. That's because aerospace engineering is very conservative," Kim said.

"Emerging AI is physics-informed rather than relying solely on data," Kim said.