Approach to modeling of distributed hierarchical control for autonomous drone swarm

Abstract

Control of a drone swarm as a unit requires decentralization and hierarchy. Decentralizing control of the drone swarm is necessary to free the human-operator from having to constantly control the behavior of the drones within the swarm. Hierarchical control of a drone swarm is necessary so that a human-operator can adjust the activity of the swarm as a unit (as a whole). To implement this approach, the control model is proposed. The following separate roles have been identified for the implementation of decentralized hierarchical control of swarm activity: the activity of a separate drone, the activity of a drone- coordinator, and the activity of a human-operator. The control hierarchy consists of a human-operator who controls the change in the behavior of the drone-coordinator. The drone-coordinator controls the changes in the behavior of individual drones in the swarm. Drones in a swarm perform programmed behavior. This approach allows us to consider the control of a drone swarm as an analog of the management of human-workers who perform assigned work. This opens up several possibilities. First, it is possible to use methods of formalizing people’s behavior in social teams. For example, at the level of formal models of performance of their functional duties. Second, formal models can be used for decision-making and optimization for controlling a drone-coordinator in a swarm. Thirdly, computer modeling can be applied to the behavior of a drone swarm, which will allow choosing the optimal behavior of the swarm for different conditions of its activity.