Flight demonstrations of unmanned aerial vehicle swarming concepts

A has been engaged in a number of independent research and development PL has been engaged in a number of independent research and development projects over the past 5 years intended to demonstrate the cooperative behaviors of swarms of small, autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Swarm members cooperate to accomplish complex mission goals with no human in the loop. These projects represent a variety of approaches to UAV swarming, including teaming, consensus variables, and stigmergic potential fields. A series of experiments was conducted from 2001 through 2005 to demonstrate these concepts, and research in this area is ongoing. As a result of these efforts, APL has developed autonomy frameworks, hardware architectures, and communications concepts that are applicable across a broad range of small, autonomous aerial vehicles.