Communications of the ACM
Multiple avs Perform Autonomous Formation Flight
Lora Weiss, chief scientist in the Georgia Tech Research Institute, with quarter-scale Piper Cub aircraft used in research on collaboration between unmanned aerial vehicles.
Credit: Gary Meek / Georgia Institute of Technology
Research conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology Research Institute (GTRI) could help improve the capabilities of autonomous systems collaborating as teams, thereby reducing the load on human operators.
A GTRI team has successfully commanded three fully autonomous, collaborating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). In a demonstration, the machines flew in close formation at the same altitude, separated by approximately 50 meters as they executed figure-eight patterns. "For autonomous systems to scale effectively, future systems will need the ability to perform with a higher level of autonomy," says GTRI chief scientist Lora Weiss, who leads the UAV research. "Human operators must be able to provide high-level task descriptions, allowing the systems to figure out for themselves how to dynamically form teams and autonomously collaborate to complete tasks." The aircraft, quarter-scale Piper Cub airframes with a wingspan of nearly eight feet, were able to carry a mission computer, autopilot system, and sensor payloads.
Autonomous systems working in teams could be used to search for a missing person or to survey hurricanes and wildfires. "Multiple planes working together also provides flexibility if one aircraft fails or is diverted somewhere else during a mission," says GTRI researcher Charles Pippin.
From Georgia Institute of Technology
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