Cooperative Real-Time Task Allocation among Groups of UAVs

Abstract

Uninhabited autonomous vehicles(UAVs) are an increasingly important part of battlefield environments, and may soon be common in civilian applications such as disaster relief, environmental monitoring and planetary exploration. Such vehicles may be airborne, land-based or aquatic, though the focus so far has been on airborne vehicles for military applications, and this is the focus of the research presented here. We consider a heterogeneous group of UAVs drawn from several distinct classes and engaged in a search and destroy mission over an extended battlefield. During the mission, the UAVs perform Search,Confirm, Attack andBattle Damage Assessment (BDA) tasks at various locations. The tasks are determined in real-time by the actions of all UAVs and their consequences (e.g.,sensor readings), so that the task dynamics are stochastic. The tasks must, therefore, be allocated to UAVs in real-time as they arise, while ensuring that appropriate vehicles are assigned to each task. Each class of UAVs has its own sensing and attack capabilities, so the need for appropriate assignment is paramount.