Perception-oriented cooperation for multiple UAVs in a perception management framework: System concept and first results
Marc Schmitt, Peter Stuetz · 2016
This article presents a concept for Multi-UAV cooperation in manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) helicopter missions, embedded in military search & rescue operations. Due to their highly-dynamic nature, these kinds of missions are especially challenging. Thus, it is necessary for the UAVs to perform complex reconnaissance tasks in a semiautonomous manner. As these tasks are per se driven by their perceptive demands, the UAV automation should incorporate the specific constraints and limitations of its mission sensor & perception suite when conducting such missions. The perception-oriented cooperation of multiple UAVs offers a promising way to overcome these limitations, allowing to benefit from heterogeneous payload setups as well as from varying platform characteristics. In this paper, we present the concept and prototype of the Perception-Oriented Cooperation Agent (POCA), offering capabilities for the perceptive cooperation of multiple UAVs conducting complex reconnaissance missions. An integrated Multi-UAV perception planning & scheduling agent is described, specifically taking into account the informative needs of the H/C crew in control and the requirements of the mission sensor suite. The prototype of the planner is tested in three reduced toy problem setups, demonstrating it's Multi-UAV scheduling capabilities in different payload configurations.