Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) such as quadrocopters have gained great popularity over the last years, both as a research platform and in various application fields.However, some complex application scenarios call for the formation of swarms consisting of multiple drones. In this paper a platform for the creation of such swarms is presented. It is based on commercially available quadrocopters enhanced with on-board processing and communication units enabling full autonomy of individual drones. Furthermore, a generic ground control station is presented that serves as integration platform. It allows the seamless coordination of different kinds of sensor platforms.

Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) such as quadrocopters have gained great popularity over the last years, both as a research platform and in various application fields.However, some complex application scenarios call for the formation of swarms consisting of multiple drones. In this paper a platform for the creation of such swarms is presented. It is based on commercially available quadrocopters enhanced with on-board processing and communication units enabling full autonomy of individual drones. Furthermore, a generic ground control station is presented that serves as integration platform. It allows the seamless coordination of different kinds of sensor platforms.

The use of miniature Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), e.g. quadrocopters, has gained great popularity over the last years. Some complex application scenarios for micro UAVs 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 commercial quadrocopters enhanced with on-board processing and communication units enabling autonomy of individual drones. Furthermore, a generic ground control station has been realized. 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

Mobility of software agents requires additional security measures. While the theoretical aspects of mobile agent security have been widely studied, there are few studies about the security levels of current agent platforms. In this paper, test cases are proposed to assess agent platform security. These tests focus on malicious agents trying to attack other agents or the agency. Currently, they have been carried out for two agent platforms: JADE and SeMoA. These tests show which of the known theoretical security problems are relevant in practice. Furthermore, they reveal how these problems are addressed by the respective platform and what security flaws are present

Securing harbors and coastlines includes the task of monitoring and detecting people or vehicles attempting to enter a confined/protected area, other than at the legitimate access points. Modern systems should provide a total solution - including sensors, software, hardware, and a "control unit" to ensure complete security. Today a standard border security system may include several platforms, providing short-range, medium-range and long-range surveillance like perimeter protection, cameras and radars on observation towers, mobile surface and subsurface observation platforms - including land vehicles as well as maritime vessels or observation aerostats and aerial vehicles carrying all kinds of sensors to give a broader view of an area of interest. The ability to integrate those different types of surveillance means is essential to get a full picture and situation awareness. The paper introduces the concept of a universal ground station as a dynamic integrator for heterogeneous sensor platforms and sensor types depending on the surveillance needs of a specific maritime area of interest. A standardized interface to outside information systems is described taking into account the future need for combined civil and military operations for maritime safety and security