Abstract
AntAlate is a software framework for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) autonomy, designed to streamline and facilitate the work of application developers, particularly in deployment of Multi-Agent Robotic Systems (MARS). We created AntAlate in order to bring our research in the field of multi-agent systems from theoretical results to both advanced simulations and to real-life demonstrations. Creating a framework capable of catering to MARS applications requires support for distributed, decentralized, control using local sensing, performed autonomously by groups of identical anonymous agents. Though mainly interested in the emergent behavior of the system as a whole, we focused on the single agent and created a framework suitable for a system of systems approach, while minimizing the hardware requirements of the single agent. Global observers or even a centralized control can be added on top of AntAlate, but the framework does not require a global actor to finalize an application. The same applies to a human in the loop, and fully autonomous UAV applications can be written in as straightforward a way as can semi-autonomous applications. In this paper we describe the AntAlate framework and demonstrate its utility and versatility.
Highlights
Unmanned mobile robotic platforms overcame barriers to reach an ever-growing user-base in recent years
One of the primary dilemmas encountered by anyone trying to create a useful framework for multi-agent robotic systems (MARS) incorporating Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), is how much emphasis must be given to the particular UAV aspects of the framework; another dilemma is how to incorporate the swarm enabling multi-agent interaction mechanisms
21https://gitlab.com/nemala/operator-station the operator station HTTP client (OSC) without alteration, and to write their own server, tailored for their application’s behaviors, users, and use cases. Though we find it useful, the OSC is not the only extra-agent channel of communication allowed in AntAlate, and is not even the only form of operator that falls into the constraints of the framework
Summary
Unmanned mobile robotic platforms overcame barriers to reach an ever-growing user-base in recent years. The growing availability of low-power-high-performance mini-computers and micro-controllers, as well as the level of maturity and popularity reached by open-source software systems such as the Robot Operating System (ROS1), ArduPilot, and Dronekit, have made this prevalence possible. In their survey, Lim et al (2012) explain and demonstrate how open-source UAV projects can empower the UAV application developer; the emergence of reliable software frameworks for UAV application development allows both professional and hobbyist developers to focus their efforts on the distinctive features of their own application while leaving the necessary yet onerous task of infrastructure development to the framework maintainers. Balancing the emphasis on swarm-enabling mechanisms is perhaps even more problematic, since any mechanism built into the framework limits the use of alternatives by future applications
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