Synchronous Control of a Group of Flying Robots Following a Leader UAV in an Unfamiliar Environment.

An increasing number of professional drone flights require situational awareness of aerial vehicles. Vehicles in a group of drones must be aware of their surroundings and the other group members. The amount of data to be exchanged and the total cost are skyrocketing. This paper presents an implementation and assessment of an organized drone group comprising a fully aware leader and much less expensive followers. The solution achieved a significant cost reduction by decreasing the number of sensors onboard followers and improving the organization and manageability of the group in the system. In this project, a group of quadrotor drones was evaluated. An automatically flying leader was followed by drones equipped with low-end cameras only. The followers were tasked with following ArUco markers mounted on a preceding drone. Several test tasks were designed and conducted. Finally, the presented system proved appropriate for slowly moving groups of drones.

Comparison of American guidelines for field triage and Polish criteria as qualification to a trauma center.

INTRODUCTION: Trauma is the third cause of death among the general population in Poland, and the first in people aged 1-44 years. Trauma centers are hospitals dedicated to treating patients with multiple organ injuries, in a complex way that endeavours to ensure a lower mortality rate, shorter hospital stay and better outcomes if the patients are transferred to such a center. Worldwide, there are many models on how to treat a trauma patient, but them to be qualified for the procedure, the selection of potential patients is crucial. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to compare the Polish model for qualification to a trauma center and American Guidelines for Field Triage. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of medical documentation recorded between 1 January 2014 - 31 December 2014 was undertaken. The study concerned trauma patients admitted to the Emergency Department of the Regional Trauma Center at the Copernicus Memorial Hospital in Lódz, Poland. Inclusion criterion was initial diagnosis 'multiple-organ injury' among patients transported by the Emergency Medical Service (EMS). RESULTS: In the period indicated, 3,173 patients were admitted to the Emergency Department at the Copernicus Memorial Hospital. From among them, 159 patients were included in the study. Only 13.2% of the patients fulfilled the Polish Qualification Criteria to Trauma Center in comparison to 87.4% who fulfilled the American Guidelines for Field Triage. CONCLUSIONS: Polish qualification criteria do not consider the large group of patients with severe injuries (ISS>15), but indicate patients with minimal chance of survival. Polish criteria do not consider the mechanism of injury, which is a relevant predictive indicator of severe or extremely severe injuries (ISS>15). Further studies should be undertaken to improve the qualification and treatment of trauma patients in Poland.

[Simulator sickness in the aircraft training of military and civil pilots of various types of aircraft]. / Choroba symulatorowa w szkoleniu pilotów wojskowych i cywilnych róznych typów statków powietrznych.

BACKGROUND: With the rise in popularity and availability of simulators for the aircraft training of pilots, numerous side effects of that technology have been noted among their users. The symptoms of simulator sickness are similar to the symptoms of motion sickness. Dizziness, nausea, as well as spatial disorientation and a limited capacity for concentration may be observed. However, those symptoms depend on individual user's predispositions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The aim of the research was to assess the probability of occurrence of simulator sickness during exercises in virtual reality, and its impact on the effectiveness of training. Thirty two military and 16 civilian pilots of various types of aircraft took part in the research. For the subjective assessment of the psychophysical condition of the pilots, a questionnaire based on Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) was used. RESULTS: Four main factors that are associated with the prevalence of simulator sickness have been identified, i.e., age, a variety of missions, a type of aircraft and susceptibility to motion sickness. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the individual characteristics of each person, determining the risk of occurrence of simulator sickness seems to be difficult. However, there are some factors that increase the probability of getting sick, including cold, medications, lack of sleep and general fatigue. The lack of knowledge about simulator sickness among aircraft pilots appears rather alarming. When access to virtual reality is so wide, the possible ways of expanding the knowledge in this area should be considered, especially in order to obtain better results in simulator sessions. Med Pr. 2019;70(3):317-25.