Leonidas Antoniou, "API development for cooperative airborne-based sense and avoid in UAS", Diploma Work, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Chania, Greece, 2016
https://doi.org/10.26233/heallink.tuc.67156
The opening of the unmanned aircraft system (UAS) market to civil applications has expanded the research interest in the unmanned aviation field. Under a common airspace where multiple and various types of UAS should be airworthy, the use of advanced control for full autonomy is mandatory· conflicts between UAS are a safety hazard to their surrounding environment, including civilians.A lot of research has been conducted in conflict (collision) detection and avoidance in mobile robots but there is little application in the UAS sector. This is because of the complexity of the surrounding environment, the non-segregated airspace, the variety in UAS, both from a software and hardware prospective, and the wide use of UAS in civil applications.The purpose of this project is to extend the functionality of a famous open-source SDK for open-platform UAS, Dronekit, in the advanced control spectrum. The infrastructure for a decentralized solution for cooperative conflict detection has been developed, containing support for inter-UAS communication, prioritization and mission save/restore in a resource-conscious and developer-friendly API.The software developed undergoes both laboratory and field testing for evaluation purposes. The results are thoroughly discussed and the advantages of the system, along with its limitations, are presented.