RAVEN: TESTBED FOR AUTONOMOUS UAVs By Jonathan How
Unmanned aerial vehicles have become vital warfare and homeland security platforms. They significantly reduce costs
Key among the challenges to future
and the risk to human life, while amplifying warfighter and
unmanned aerial vehicle use is the
first-responder capabilities. These vehicles have been used
need to extend and distribute the team
in the Iraq war and during Hurricane Katrina rescue efforts
planning and control to achieve coor-
with some success, but there remain technological barriers
dinated UAV behaviors in the presence
to achieving the vision of multiple UAVs operating coop-
of significant uncertainty about the
eratively with other manned and unmanned vehicles in the
operating environment. For example,
national airspace and beyond.
consider a scenario in which a team of UAVs responds to a disaster site,
maps the region for the human response team, searches for victims, interviews witnesses, and monitors the overall environment for threats. The UAVs must coordinate to ensure that the many tasks of this mission are performed as efficiently and effectively as possible, given the uncertainty in the terrain and poor knowledge of the scope of the mission. In another scenario, a team of UAVs could be used to protect a military convoy — fanning out to provide full surrounding surveillance while providing the ability to split off to take a more detailed look at targets of interest. Then, as fuel is used up, or unexpected mechanical problems occur, the UAVs would self-diagnose the problem, summon a replacement vehicle, and land on a mobile support platform to be replenished or sent to repair. In such a mission, the UAVs would coordinate to ensure that they
UAVS WOULD SELF-DIAGNOSE A PROBLEM, SUMMON A REPLACEMENT VEHICLE, AND LAND ON A MOBILE SUPPORT PLATFORM TO BE REPLENISHED OR SENT TO REPAIR.
RAVEN UAVs
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