• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.219-232
• /
• 2014

This paper reports on an ongoing study investigating the feasibility of using an evolutionary method to develop the rules governing Self-Organised (SO) systems for use in swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles. In general, it is difficult to design swarm systems that follow explicit global behaviour. Unlike optimising a predefined objective function, the solution to the problem is the emergent behaviour in the SO systems which results from simultaneous interactions among agents and between agents and their environment. In this study, evolutionary algorithms are used to investigate their control and effectiveness in synthesising the weighting of different rules on SO emergent behaviour. Both homogeneous swarms and heterogeneous swarms were considered though the results provided are for a case study investigating the simplest problem a homogeneous swarm without mutation. Though simple this study does indicate the potential of the approach.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
• /
• v.25 no.8
• /
• pp.1007-1021
• /
• 2022

Autonomous driving of unmanned aerial vehicles may have to pay expensive cost to create and switch new routes if unexpected obstacles exist or local map updates occured by the control system due to incorrect route information. Integrating digital twins into the path-following process requires more computing resources to quickly switch the wrong path to an alternative path, but it can quickly update the path during flight. In this study, we design a DEVS-based simulation environment which can modify optimized paths through short-term simulation of multi-virtual UAVs for applying digital twin concepts to path follow. Through simulation, we confirmed the possibility of increasing the mission stability of UAV.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
• /
• 2003.11a
• /
• pp.1433-1435
• /
• 2003

Very decisive progress was made in advancing fundamental POL-IN-SAR theory and algorithm development during the past decade. This was accomplished with the aid of airborne & shuttle platforms supporting single -to-multi-band multi-modal POL-SAR and also some POL-IN-SAR sensor systems, which will be compared and assessed with the aim of establishing the hitherto not completed but required missions such as tomographic and holographic imaging. Because the operation of airborne test-beds is extremely expensive, aircraft platforms are not suited for routine monitoring missions which is better accomplished with the use drones or UAVs. Such unmanned aerial vehicles were developed for defense applications, however lacking the sophistic ation of implementing advanced forefront POL-IN-SAR technology. This shortcoming will be thoroughly scrutinized resulting in the finding that we do now need to develop most rapidly POL-IN-SAR drone-platform technology especially for environmental stress-change monitoring with a great variance of applications beginning with flood, bush/forest-fire to tectonic-stress (earth-quake to volcanic eruptions) for real-short-time hazard mitigation. However, for routine global monitoring purposes of the terrestrial covers neither airborne sensor implementation - aircraft and/or drones - are sufficient; and there -fore multi-modal and multi-band space-borne POL-IN-SAR space-shuttle and satellite sensor technology needs to be further advanced at a much more rapid phase. The existing ENVISAT with the forthcoming ALOSPALSAR, RADARSAT-2, and the TERRASAT will be compared, demonstrating that at this phase of development the fully polarimetric and polarimetric-interferometric modes of operation must be viewed and treated as preliminary algorithm verification support modes and at this phase of development are still not to be viewed as routine modes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.176-189
• /
• 2024

Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) is a core feature of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are commonly referred to as drones. In emerging smart logistics, drones are expected to play an increasingly important role as mobile platforms. Therefore, research on last-mile delivery using drones is on the rise. There is a growing trend toward providing drone delivery services, particularly among retailers that handle small and lightweight items. However, there is still a lack of research on a structural definition of the VTOL drone flight model for multi-point delivery service. This paper describes a VTOL drone flight route structure for a multi-drone delivery service using rotary-wing type VTOL drones. First, we briefly explore the factors to be considered when providing drone delivery services. Second, a VTOL drone flight route model is introduced using the idea of the nested graph. Based on the proposed model, we describe various time-related attributes for delivery services using drones and present corresponding calculation methods. Additionally, as an application of the drone route model and the time attributes, we comprehensively describe a simple example of the multi-drone delivery for first-come-first-served (FCFS) services.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.50 no.8
• /
• pp.523-530
• /
• 2022

Since the Multi-UAV system for various missions is more complex than a single UAV, an efficient formation control method is required. In wide-area search mission, there is a need for a distributed control for flexible formation that has a low burden of communication and computation and enables autonomous formation between UAVs. This paper proposes a flexible formation operation method that considers the swarm formation, the bank alignment formation, and the formation movement to expand the scan area and improve search performance. The algorithm has a vibration characteristic of the second-order system for a relative distance and can design an algorithm through parameter tuning. In addition, we converted control commands to suit conventional UAV systems and demonstrated the performance of algorithms for a formation and movement of a formation through simulation.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.78-85
• /
• 2023

For Multi-UAV systems, a task allocation could be a key factor to determine the capability to perform a task. In this paper, we proposed a task allocation method based on genetic algorithm for minimizing makespan and satisfying various constraints. To obtain the optimal solution of the task allocation problem, a huge calculation effort is necessary. Therefore, a genetic algorithm-based method could be an alternative to get the answer. Many types of UAVs, tasks, and constraints in real worlds are introduced and considered when tasks are assigned. The proposed method can build the task sequence of each UAV and calculate waiting time before beginning tasks related to constraints. After initial task allocation with a genetic algorithm, waiting time is added to satisfy constraints. Multiple numerical simulation results validated the performance of this mission planning method with minimized makespan.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.38 no.6_1
• /
• pp.1125-1139
• /
• 2022

In an unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) system, a physical offset can be existed between the global positioning system/inertial measurement unit (GPS/IMU) sensor and the observation sensor such as a hyperspectral sensor, and a lidar sensor. As a result of the physical offset, a misalignment between each image can be occurred along with a flight direction. In particular, in a case of multi-sensor system, an observation sensor has to be replaced regularly to equip another observation sensor, and then, a high cost should be paid to acquire a calibration parameter. In this study, we establish a precise sensor model equation to apply for a multiple sensor in common and propose an independent physical offset estimation method. The proposed method consists of 3 steps. Firstly, we define an appropriate rotation matrix for our system, and an initial sensor model equation for direct-georeferencing. Next, an observation equation for the physical offset estimation is established by extracting a corresponding point between a ground control point and the observed data from a sensor. Finally, the physical offset is estimated based on the observed data, and the precise sensor model equation is established by applying the estimated parameters to the initial sensor model equation. 4 region's datasets(Jeon-ju, Incheon, Alaska, Norway) with a different latitude, longitude were compared to analyze the effects of the calibration parameter. We confirmed that a misalignment between images were adjusted after applying for the physical offset in the sensor model equation. An absolute position accuracy was analyzed in the Incheon dataset, compared to a ground control point. For the hyperspectral image, root mean square error (RMSE) for X, Y direction was calculated for 0.12 m, and for the point cloud, RMSE was calculated for 0.03 m. Furthermore, a relative position accuracy for a specific point between the adjusted point cloud and the hyperspectral images were also analyzed for 0.07 m, so we confirmed that a precise data mapping is available for an observation without a ground control point through the proposed estimation method, and we also confirmed a possibility of multi-sensor fusion. From this study, we expect that a flexible multi-sensor platform system can be operated through the independent parameter estimation method with an economic cost saving.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.49 no.6
• /
• pp.731-742
• /
• 2016

Recent technological advance in UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) technology offers new opportunities for assessing crop situation using UAV imagery. The objective of this study was to assess if reflectance and NDVI derived from consumer-grade cameras mounted on UAVs are useful for crop condition monitoring. This study was conducted using a fixed-wing UAV(Ebee) with Cannon S110 camera from March 2015 to March 2016 in the experiment field of National Institute of Agricultural Sciences. Results were compared with ground-based recordings obtained from consumer-grade cameras and ground multi-spectral sensors. The relationship between raw digital numbers (DNs) of UAV images and measured calibration tarp reflectance was quadratic. Surface (lawn grass, stairs, and soybean cultivation area) reflectance obtained from UAV images was not similar to reflectance measured by ground-based sensors. But NDVI based on UAV imagery was similar to NDVI calculated by ground-based sensors.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.463-474
• /
• 2015

Future Ground Control Stations (GCSs) for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) teleoperation targets better situational awareness by providing extra motion cues to stimulate the vestibular system. This paper proposes a new virtual environment for long range Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) control via Non-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) communications, which is based on motion platforms. It generates motion cues for the teleoperator for extra sensory stimulation to enhance the guidance performance. The proposed environment employs the distributed component simulation over GSM network as a simulation platform. GSM communications are utilized as a multi-hop communication network, which is similar to global satellite communications. It considers a UAV mathematical model and wind turbulence effects to simulate a realistic UAV dynamics. Moreover, the proposed virtual environment simulates a Multiple Axis Rotating Device (MARD) as Human Machine Interface (HMI) device to provide a complete delay analysis. The demonstrated measurements cover Graphical User Interface (GUI) capabilities, NLoS GSM communications delay, MARD performance, and different software workload. The proposed virtual environment succeeded to provide visual and vestibular feedbacks for teleoperators via GSM networks. The overall system performance is acceptable relative to other Line-of-Sight (LoS) systems, which promises a good potential for future long range, medium altitude UAV teleoperation researches.

• ETRI Journal
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.615-626
• /
• 2023

Under limited transmission conditions, many factors affect the efficiency of video transmission. During the flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), frequent network switching often occurs, and the channel transmission condition changes rapidly, resulting in low-video transmission efficiency. This paper presents an efficient video coding flow for UAVs working in the 5G nonstandalone network and proposes two bit controllers, including time and spatial bit controllers, in the flow. When the environment fluctuates significantly, the time bit controller adjusts the depth of the recursive codec to reduce the error propagation caused by excessive network inference. The spatial bit controller combines the spatial bit mask with the channel quality multiplier to adjust the bit allocation in space to allocate resources better and improve the efficiency of information carrying. In the spatial bit controller, a flexible mini graph is proposed to compute the channel quality multiplier. In this study, two bit controllers with end-to-end codec were combined, thereby constructing an efficient video coding flow. Many experiments have been performed in various environments. Concerning the multi-scale structural similarity index and peak signal-to-noise ratio, the performance of the coding flow is close to that of H.265 in the low bits per pixel area. With an increase in bits per pixel, the saturation bottleneck of the coding flow is at the same level as that of H.264.