Is this project an undergraduate, graduate, or faculty project?
Undergraduate
Project Type
group
Campus
Daytona Beach
Authors' Class Standing
Rachel Jacobsen, Senior Liam Abraham Ethan Thomas Madeline Thomson Nikoloas Triantafilloy
Lead Presenter's Name
Rachel Jacobsen
Lead Presenter's College
DB College of Engineering
Faculty Mentor Name
Monica Garcia
Abstract
Man-overboard (MOB) search and rescue (SAR) operations present a persistent maritime challenge, where rapid and reliable detection of a person in the water is critical to mission success. MOB-Air is developing a modular sensing package for an unmanned aerial system (UAS) to enhance SAR missions through autonomous human detection in maritime environments. This capability directly supports Navy maritime operations by improving overboard recovery, reducing search timelines, and enabling persistent aerial monitoring in contested or resource-constrained environments. The system evaluates thermal and visual imaging sensors using a custom horizontal-rail testing frame with a mobile payload. A ROS 2–based software architecture supports modular perception through custom nodes implementing YOLOv8 object detection. Assembly of the testing frame and payload is underway. Selected sensors, including the Intel RealSense and Luxonis OAK-T, have been powered and connected to test laptops, and core ROS 2 software packages are under development. Formal testing procedures and success criteria have been defined to evaluate detection performance across representative distances and environmental conditions. Planned testing will assess system functionality and human detection performance in controlled environments, establishing a validated and extensible foundation for future autonomous maritime SAR capabilities.
Did this research project receive funding support (Spark, SURF, Research Abroad, Student Internal Grants, Collaborative, Climbing, or Ignite Grants) from the Office of Undergraduate Research?
No
Included in
Management and Operations Commons, Systems and Communications Commons, Systems Engineering Commons
MOB-AIR: Sensing Package Development for Maritime Search and Rescue UAV
Man-overboard (MOB) search and rescue (SAR) operations present a persistent maritime challenge, where rapid and reliable detection of a person in the water is critical to mission success. MOB-Air is developing a modular sensing package for an unmanned aerial system (UAS) to enhance SAR missions through autonomous human detection in maritime environments. This capability directly supports Navy maritime operations by improving overboard recovery, reducing search timelines, and enabling persistent aerial monitoring in contested or resource-constrained environments. The system evaluates thermal and visual imaging sensors using a custom horizontal-rail testing frame with a mobile payload. A ROS 2–based software architecture supports modular perception through custom nodes implementing YOLOv8 object detection. Assembly of the testing frame and payload is underway. Selected sensors, including the Intel RealSense and Luxonis OAK-T, have been powered and connected to test laptops, and core ROS 2 software packages are under development. Formal testing procedures and success criteria have been defined to evaluate detection performance across representative distances and environmental conditions. Planned testing will assess system functionality and human detection performance in controlled environments, establishing a validated and extensible foundation for future autonomous maritime SAR capabilities.