Cooperative control of multiple airborne agents: A GIS-centered approach

We describe a system for the cooperative control of large fleets of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) with an emphasis on surveillance over large areas. The system hierarchically decomposes the task of surveillance into predefined plans.; Human interaction with the system is done through the Geographical Information System (GIS), which in turn interacts with the database to retrieve data from and send instructions to the UAVs. All communication in the system occurs through the database. The database also stores all information that needs to be shared between the GIS and UAVs.; The system is capable of handling the addition and removal of UAVs. A UAV becomes available after first becoming operational or when it is finished refuelling. A UAV becomes unavailable when it runs low on fuel, when it is ordered to return to the airport by a human operator using the GIS, or when the database detects it has crashed.