St. Petersburg Scientists Develop System to Control Drone Swarms in Dense Urban Areas
The system was tested in a virtual environment simulating different types of terrain.
Scientists from the St. Petersburg Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences have developed a software system for the coordinated use of drones in mountainous terrain and dense urban environments. The technology allows new drones to be added to flight plans in real time and automatically coordinates their operation even when communication problems occur. The institution’s press service told IT-Russia about the project.
Multirotor UAVs
The system relies on unique mathematical and software tools that coordinate the automated operation of groups of multirotor UAVs. It is based on the concept of dynamic air corridors, where each drone reserves a virtual space along its route. The program gradually narrows the air corridor as the drone moves and frees the airspace for other drones.
Researchers explained that multirotor drones are particularly useful for large-scale transport operations, infrastructure monitoring, search-and-rescue missions and geological exploration in difficult terrain. These drones are precise and maneuverable and can take off and land vertically. However, launching large numbers of drones at once sharply increases air-traffic intensity, as dozens of drones may operate simultaneously within the same airspace. This makes safe coordination between them critically important.
Gradual Deployment
The system differs from existing solutions thanks to an algorithm that allows new UAVs to be introduced into flight plans step by step while dynamically allocating air corridors for them. Route replanning for the newly assembled drone group takes place automatically. The software system does not need to be stopped or restarted.
The software was tested in a virtual environment across four terrain types – mixed landscapes, plains, hills and mountains. Dozens of drones with different tasks operated at each digital testing ground. Peak computational load was reached only when 50 UAVs were operating simultaneously. Even then, the system simply required more time to process calculations while maintaining accuracy.
Earlier we reported that Russian “Legioner” drones attracted interest from Middle Eastern countries.
