Development of micro UAV swarms

Some complex application scenarios for micro UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) call for the formation of swarms of multiple drones. In this paper a platform for the creation of such swarms is presented. It consists of modified commercial quadrocopters and a self-made ground control station software architecture. Autonomy of individual drones is generated through a micro controller equipped video camera. Currently it is possible to fly basic maneuvers autonomously, such as take-off, fly to position, and landing. In the future the camera's image processing capabilities will be used to generate additional control information. Different co-operation strategies for teams of UAVs are currently evaluated with an agent based simulation tool. Finally complex application scenarios for multiple micro UAVs are presented.