Automatic system supporting multicopter swarms with manual guidance

Currently, there are some scenarios, such as search and rescue operations,where the deployment of manually guided swarms of UAVs can be necessary. In such cases, the pilot's commands are unknown a priori (unpredictable), meaning that the UAVs must respond in near real time to the movements of the leader UAV in order to maintain swarm consistency. In this paper we develop a protocol for the coordination of UAVs in a swarm where the swarm leader is controlled by a real pilot, and the other UAVs must follow it in real time to maintain swarm cohesion. We validate our solution using a realistic simulation software that we developed (ArduSim), testing flights with multiple numbers of UAVs and different swarm configurations. Simulation results show the validity of the proposed swarm coordination protocol, detailing the responsiveness limits of our solution, and finding the minimum distances between UAVs to avoid collisions. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.