Developing a Robust and Flexible Simulation Environment to Support Cooperative Tracking of UAVs
Davy Stevenson, Matt Wheeler, Charlie Matlack, Richard Wise, William W. Whitacre · 2007
This paper will discuss the physical and technical challenges of developing a robust and flexible system for the simulation and implementation of cooperative tracking of moving targets by a group of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Insitu, Inc. with assistance from the University of Washington and Cornell, has been developing a simulation testbed for the cooperative tracking project which has unique needs. The requirements include multiple computers serving as two simulated aircrafts and a ground control station, with a data distribution system to relay the information between the different components. This system needs to be modular in order to facilitate quick disassembly and reassembly in a different location, and needs to support testing in a stand-alone mode as well as with a hardware-inthe-loop (HIL) simulator to further simulate the aircraft and finally to support the actual flight tests. Minimal adjustment to the hardware or software configuration between these different modes is desired. The challenges for this system have included creating a physical setup that includes all of the necessary hardware while being compact enough to be easily moved from site to site, implementing a framework flexible enough to incorporate code and scripts written in a variety of languages, finding an agile and robust data distribution method and setting up a simulation system that requires minimal effort to initialize.