Power usage optimization in multi-UAV common-mission cooperative UAS systems

Abstract

UAVs operate on battery or combustible power sources, thus the length of the mission is strongly related to the efficiency of the UAVs. This work discusses multi-UAV system, in which multiple unmanned aerial vehicles cooperate as a group, communicate and process common task(s) (missions). In such case, not only the efficiency of a single UAV is important, but also the efficiency of the entire multi-UAV system. This paper presents the key architecture elements, their roles in the system and proposes algorithms to optimize the system operation as a whole. UAVs are equipped with FPGA processing units that can be reprogrammed to efficiently process certain functions.