Intra-UAV Swarm Connectivity in Unstable Environment

Abstract

Swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being explored as viable options for a variety of missions. However, extremely dynamic and rapidly changing environmental conditions such as wind prevent UAVs from maintaining a minimum safe distance and cause them to lose Connectivity. Furthermore, the UAVs near the swarm's edge will be more sensitive to connectivity failure. This study presents a thorough examination of the impact of wind on the connectivity of a large-scale swarm. The correlation between the number of UAVs needed to sustain swarm connectivity and characteristics like UAV speed, mass, wind speed, and drag force is also explored. From the results, the number of UAVs that do not maintain the minimum safe distance are seen to increase with increasing absolute value difference between the UAV and wind speed. Moreover, the number of critical UAVs is seen to decrease as the speed of UAVs increases relative to the mean wind speed for the same percentage of change in distance relative to the expected distance to be covered with the flight speed. Extending on these findings, a novel algorithm for updating UAV locations in a swarm in a constantly changing environment is also provided in order to maintain intra-UAV connectivity between individual UAV's. In this regard, a thorough examination of the impact of flying and maneuvering tactics selection is offered. As a result of comprehensive study, the proposed approach for updating UAV locations in uncertain conditions obtained a reduction in average outage probability of around 35%, 10%, and 40% using three distinct approaches, respectively, in contrast to earlier efforts. In addition, as compared to previous techniques, the proposed algorithm produced a smoother flight path with less jitters.