{"id":4762,"date":"2024-01-11T22:10:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T21:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/?page_id=4762"},"modified":"2026-01-06T09:33:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T08:33:03","slug":"convoy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/index.php\/projects\/convoy\/","title":{"rendered":"CONVOY"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><section class=\"kc-elm kc-css-842944 kc_row\"><div class=\"kc-row-container  kc-container\"><div class=\"kc-wrap-columns\"><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-385416 kc_col-sm-12 kc_column kc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"kc-col-container\"><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-993040\" style=\"height: 20px; clear: both; width:100%;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"kc-elm kc-css-750902 kc_row\"><div class=\"kc-row-container  kc-container\"><div class=\"kc-wrap-columns\"><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-918102 kc_col-sm-3 kc_column kc_col-sm-3\"><div class=\"kc-col-container\"><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-607559 kc-icon-wrapper\">\n\t\t<i class=\"fa-euro-sign\"><\/i>\n\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-562237 kc_shortcode kc_single_image\">\n\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/eu-edf-2022.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"\" \/>    <\/div>\n<div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-961353 kc_text_block\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">European Commission<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">European Defence Fund<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-style: inherit;\">2023 &#8211; 2027<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">5 M\u20ac<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/div><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-445096\" style=\"height: 20px; clear: both; width:100%;\"><\/div><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-349112 kc-icon-wrapper\">\n\t\t<i class=\"ion-android-people\"><\/i>\n\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-304859 kc_text_block\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/index.php\/people\/miguel-freixo\/\">Miguel Freixo<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Vitor Bueno<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/index.php\/people\/emile-le-flecher\/\">Emile Le Fl\u00e9cher<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<\/div><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-995958\" style=\"height: 20px; clear: both; width:100%;\"><\/div><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-76062 kc-icon-wrapper\">\n\t\t<i class=\"ion-ios-world-outline\"><\/i>\n\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-777782 kc_text_block\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Project website<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu\/document\/download\/3fa31a57-b327-483c-a660-f96190170a7a_en?filename=CONVOY%20-%20Factsheet_EDF22.pdf\">EDF website<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.convoy-eu.com\/\">CONVOY project website<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-87307 kc_col-sm-6 kc_column kc_col-sm-6\"><div class=\"kc-col-container\"><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-841907 kc_text_block\"><\/p>\n<p>The CONVOY (ClOud iNtelligent explosiVe detectiOn sYstem) project addresses the EDF-2022-LS-RA-CHALLENGE-DIGIT-HTDP call on the development of unmanned ground and aerial systems for hidden threats detection.<\/p>\n<p>Due to the evolution of the defence context in Europe and the world, EU land forces need to operate in high intensity environments facing potential technically advanced threats such as Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) or landmines. It is one of the major causes of casualties of EU defence forces and countering these hidden threats is essential to protect soldiers and enhance operational efficiency.<\/p>\n<p>Scenarios typically encountered by armed forces, such as route clearance, represent a challenge and existing technology, where single detections are performed, does not provide the expected detection confidence to ensure soldier protection.<\/p>\n<p>The CONVOY project is based on the development and integration of a CONVOY demonstrator that will evolve through the participation in four evaluation campaigns. The CONVOY demonstrator will consist of a set of different integrated components based on the following guidelines:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Multi-sensor approach.<\/strong> CONVOY will be combining eight different sensor technologies: GPR, metal detector, UGV Autonomy sensors, THZ Sensor, LIDAR, IR-Laser Sensor, Quantum Magnet., EO\/IR Camera.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Multi-platform approach.<\/strong> CONVOY will be deploying those networked sensors on different platforms on the battlefield including two unmanned aerial systems, one medium and five small size unmanned ground systems, and a manned ground vehicle.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Artificial Intelligence and Information fusion.<\/strong> CONVOY will integrate all the information collected by this sensory network using building blocks providing information fusion powered by Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence will be also used for Mission Planning and Platform Tasking.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Integration into\/with Command and Control Systems.<\/strong> CONVOY will integrate both the Battle Management System (BMS) for the Squad and the Dismounted Soldier System (DSS) C2 for the combatants.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tactical Cloud.<\/strong>\u00a0The best environment to facilitate CONVOY approach for integration of different components, subsystems and building blocks, is the CONVOY Tactical Cloud which will provide a shared service space across federated platforms by distributed micro service architectures.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Open Architecture and Standards.<\/strong> The proposed architecture establishes interoperability and standard interfaces as a design principle ensuring the modularity of the components (sensors, platforms, AI building blocks\u2026) and the support to the scalability of the global solution. This in turn allows to integrate existing components and supports the incorporation of components not developed by CONVOY consortium.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-177146 kc_col-sm-3 kc_column kc_col-sm-3\"><div class=\"kc-col-container\"><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-349677 kc_shortcode kc_single_image\">\n\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/CONVOY_logo.png\" class=\"\" alt=\"CONVOY_logo\" \/>    <\/div>\n<div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-920985 kc-raw-code\">  <script>\n    window.addEventListener(\"load\", () => {\n      mastodonFeedLoad(\n        \"https:\/\/social.rma.ac.be\/api\/v1\/timelines\/tag\/EDF_CONVOY\",\n        \"include-mastodon-feed-69db02f5c759a\",\n        {\n          linkTarget: \"_self\",\n          showPreviewCards: true,\n          excludeConversationStarters: false,\n          excludeTags: \"\",\n          content: {\n            hideStatusMeta: false,\n            hideDateTime: false          },\n          images: {\n            preserveImageAspectRatio: false,\n            size: \"preview\",\n            link: \"status\",\n          },\n          text: {\n            boosted: \"boosted \ud83d\ude80\",\n            noStatuses: \"No statuses available\",\n            viewOnInstance: \"view on instance\",\n            showContent: \"Show content\",\n            permalinkPre: \"on\",\n            permalinkPost: \"\",\n            edited: \"(edited)\",\n          },\n          localization: {\n            date: {\n              locale: \"en-US\",\n              options: {},\n            }\n          }\n        }\n      );\n    });\n  <\/script>\n  <div class=\"include-mastodon-feed-wrapper\"><ol class=\"include-mastodon-feed\" id=\"include-mastodon-feed-69db02f5c759a\"><li>Loading Mastodon feed...<\/li><\/ol><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"kc-elm kc-css-770000 kc_row\"><div class=\"kc-row-container  kc-container\"><div class=\"kc-wrap-columns\"><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-663179 kc_col-sm-12 kc_column kc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"kc-col-container\"><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-982007\" style=\"height: 20px; clear: both; width:100%;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"kc-elm kc-css-81869 kc_row\"><div class=\"kc-row-container  kc-container\"><div class=\"kc-wrap-columns\"><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-886626 kc_col-sm-12 kc_column kc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"kc-col-container\">\n<div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-336599 kc-title-wrap \">\n\n\t<h4 class=\"kc_title\">Project Publications<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-892917 kc_text_block\"><\/p>\n<p><h3 class=\"papercite\">2025<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"papercite_bibliography\">\n<li>    E. Maroulis, D. Hawari, K. Hasselmann, E. Le Fl\u00e9cher, and G. De Cubber, &#8220;Experimental Evaluation of Roadmap-Based Map Generation with Continuous-Time Conflict-Based Search for Multi-Agent Pathfinding,\" in <span style=\"font-style: italic\">IEEE International Conference on Autonomous Robots and Agents, ICARA<\/span>,  2025, p. 380\u2013387.    <br \/>   <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\" id=\"papercite_0\" class=\"papercite_toggle\">[BibTeX]<\/a>      <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\" id=\"papercite_abstract_0\" class=\"papercite_toggle\">[Abstract]<\/a>         <a href=\"https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/10977707\" title='Download PDF' class='papercite_pdf'>[Download PDF]<\/a>         <a href='http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1109\/ICARA64554.2025.10977707' class='papercite_doi' title='View on publisher site'>[DOI]<\/a><br \/>\n<blockquote class=\"papercite_bibtex\" id=\"papercite_abstract_0_block\">\n<p>This article presents an experimental evaluation of a Multi-Agent Pathfinding (MAPF) approach for large-scale robotic fleets operating in diverse outdoor environments. We generated three distinct types of roadmap graphs: Constrained Delaunay Triangulation (CDT), Voronoi Diagram (VD), and Grid-derived from an obstacle file, and assessed their quality using metrics obtained from graph theory. Then, the performance of the Continuous-time Conflict-Based Search (CCBS) algorithm was evaluated across three different environmental maps, considering practical performance metrics including makespan and failure rate. Subsequently, the roadmap generation methods were ranked based on CCBS performance in similar scenarios using the Friedman statistical test. The results indicate that CDT outperforms both VD and Grid maps, even though it does not exhibit the best graph metrics in many environments. CDT&#8217;s superior performance is attributed to its enhanced interconnectedness and the availability of multiple pathways, as evidenced by its balanced metrics and structural properties. We show that CDT is the most efficient and reliable roadmap generation technique for multiagent systems under our experimental conditions making it a preferred choice for robust pathfinding.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"papercite_bibtex\" id=\"papercite_0_block\">\n<pre><code class=\"tex bibtex\">@inproceedings{34774d01cc3341398188fc8353028be2,\ntitle = \"Experimental Evaluation of Roadmap-Based Map Generation with Continuous-Time Conflict-Based Search for Multi-Agent Pathfinding\",\nabstract = \"This article presents an experimental evaluation of a Multi-Agent Pathfinding (MAPF) approach for large-scale robotic fleets operating in diverse outdoor environments. We generated three distinct types of roadmap graphs: Constrained Delaunay Triangulation (CDT), Voronoi Diagram (VD), and Grid-derived from an obstacle file, and assessed their quality using metrics obtained from graph theory. Then, the performance of the Continuous-time Conflict-Based Search (CCBS) algorithm was evaluated across three different environmental maps, considering practical performance metrics including makespan and failure rate. Subsequently, the roadmap generation methods were ranked based on CCBS performance in similar scenarios using the Friedman statistical test. The results indicate that CDT outperforms both VD and Grid maps, even though it does not exhibit the best graph metrics in many environments. CDT's superior performance is attributed to its enhanced interconnectedness and the availability of multiple pathways, as evidenced by its balanced metrics and structural properties. We show that CDT is the most efficient and reliable roadmap generation technique for multiagent systems under our experimental conditions making it a preferred choice for robust pathfinding.\",\nkeywords = \"Measurement , Automation , Reliability theory , Graph theory , Path planning , Robots , Multi-agent systems\",\nauthor = \"Emmanouil Maroulis and Danial Hawari and Ken Hasselmann and Le Fl\u00e9cher, Emile and De Cubber, Geert\",\nyear = \"2025\",\nmonth = may,\nday = \"5\",\ndoi = \"10.1109\/ICARA64554.2025.10977707\",\nlanguage = \"English\",\npages = \"380--387\",\nbooktitle = \"IEEE International Conference on Autonomous Robots and Agents, ICARA\",\nissn = \"2767-7745\",\nurl = \"https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/10977707\",\nunit= {meca-ras},\nproject= {CUGS, ANIMUS, AIDEDEX, CONVOY}\n}<\/code><\/pre>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"kc-elm kc-css-222539 kc_row\"><div class=\"kc-row-container  kc-container\"><div class=\"kc-wrap-columns\"><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-798998 kc_col-sm-12 kc_column kc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"kc-col-container\"><div class=\"kc-elm kc-css-442509\" style=\"height: 20px; clear: both; width:100%;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4606,"parent":2797,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4762","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4762"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5409,"href":"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4762\/revisions\/5409"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2797"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecatron.rma.ac.be\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}