Formation-based Selection of Drone Swarm Services

Abstract

Swarm of drones are increasingly being asked to carry out missions that can't be completed by one drone. Particularly, in delivery, issues arise due to the swarm's limited flight endurance. Hence, we propose a novel formation-guided framework for selecting Swarmbased Drone-as-a-Service (SDaaS) for delivery. A detailed study is carried out to highlight the effect of swarm formations on energy consumption. Two SDaaS selection approaches, i.e. Fixed and Adaptive, are designed considering the different formation decisions a swarm can take. The proposed framework considers extrinsic constraints including wind speed and direction. We propose SDaaS selection algorithms for each approach. Experimental results prove the efficiency of the proposed algorithms. CCS CONCEPTS• Computer systems organization → Robotic autonomy; • Applied computing → Service-oriented architectures.

In-Flight Energy-Driven Composition of Drone Swarm Services

“…We assume that swarms are static: 1. the number of drones in a swarm are constant, and 2. drones in a swarm stay together spatially until they reach their destination [19]. We also assume that the optimal swarm formation is preset, i.e., has already been decided and selected, based on the averaged wind conditions and will not change until packages are delivered [20]. We adopt the five formations proposed in [20], including Column, Front, Echelon, Vee, and Diamond.…”

“…We also assume that the optimal swarm formation is preset, i.e., has already been decided and selected, based on the averaged wind conditions and will not change until packages are delivered [20]. We adopt the five formations proposed in [20], including Column, Front, Echelon, Vee, and Diamond. These formations are popular formations inspired by bird flocks and military airforce for energy conservation purposes and protection [20].…”

“…We adopt the five formations proposed in [20], including Column, Front, Echelon, Vee, and Diamond. These formations are popular formations inspired by bird flocks and military airforce for energy conservation purposes and protection [20]. An optimal formation is one that consumes the least amount of energy under certain wind conditions [20].…”

“…These formations are popular formations inspired by bird flocks and military airforce for energy conservation purposes and protection [20]. An optimal formation is one that consumes the least amount of energy under certain wind conditions [20]. We assume that each skyway segment may have a different wind speed and direction.…”

“…In most types of formations (e.g., Vee formation), each drone would consume a different amount of energy which is dependent on its position in the formation due to wind drag forces and upwash/downwash forces generated by front drones [20]. The in-flight energy sharing occurs at less than 1.2 meters distance between the provider and consumer [14].…”