MRS Drone: A Modular Platform for Real-World Deployment of Aerial Multi-Robot Systems

Abstract

This paper presents a modular autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platform called the Multi-robot Systems (MRS) Drone that can be used in a large range of indoor and outdoor applications. The MRS Drone features unique modularity with respect to changes in actuators, frames, and sensory configuration. As the name suggests, the platform is specially tailored for deployment within a MRS group. The MRS Drone contributes to the state-of-the-art of UAV platforms by allowing smooth real-world deployment of multiple aerial robots, as well as by outperforming other platforms with its modularity. For real-world multi-robot deployment in various applications, the platform is easy to both assemble and modify. Moreover, it is accompanied by a realistic simulator to enable safe pre-flight testing and a smooth transition to complex real-world experiments. In this manuscript, we present mechanical and electrical designs, software architecture, and technical specifications to build a fully autonomous multi UAV system. Finally, we demonstrate the full capabilities and the unique modularity of the MRS Drone in various real-world applications that required a diverse range of platform configurations.

An Open-Source UAV Platform for Swarm Robotics Research: Using Cooperative Sensor Fusion for Inter-Robot Tracking

“…Another very promising technology is ultra-violet direction and ranging (UVDAR) [13], [14]. UVDAR can allow drones to identify and track the positions and orientations of nearby drones using only onboard sensors and computation, and is currently being implemented as an extension [15] to the open-source MRS research platform [2]. In the mid-term future, it is likely that some of these technologies will become available on commercial drone platforms that are open and come pre-built off-the-shelf.…”