Abstract—The problem of managing a fleet of quad-rotor drones in a completely unknown environment is analyzed in the present paper. This work is following the footsteps of other studies about how should be managed the movements of a swarm of elements that have to stay gathered throughout their activities. In this paper we aim to demonstrate the restrictions of a system where absolutely all the calculations and physical movements of our elements are done by one single external element. This is made possible thanks to a set of command rules which can guide the drones through various missions with defined goal. This strategy is based on a simultaneous usage of different data: obstacles positions, real-time positions of all drones and relative positions between the different drones. This work is based on Robot Operating System (R.O.S.) and use, as a base, several previous open-source projects on the matter. Simulation results show the limitations of the use of a centralized system to control a fleet of drones. Those weaknesses are highlighted thanks to the low-cost drones used here where the central unit had difficulties to handle drones workload.
Index Terms—Autonomous multi-vehicles system, Cooperative guidance, distributed control, obstacle avoidance, unmanned aerial vehicle.
M. Bazin, I. Bouguir, D. Combe, V. Germain, and G. Lassade are with ECE Paris School of Engineering, Paris, France (e-mail: vgermain@ece.fr).
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Cite: M. Bazin, I. Bouguir, D. Combe, V. Germain, and G. Lassade, "Parallel Tracking and Mapping of a Fleet of Quad-Rotor," International Journal of Engineering and Technology vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 254-257, 2017.
