Sharing three-dimensional occupancy grid maps to support multi-UAVs cooperative navigation systems

Due to recent advances in mobile robotics, applications involving multiple robots have become the focus of research in this area. Communication and data exchange among robots are essential features of these systems. In this context, this work presents the conception and the implementation of an application used to share local three-dimensional occupancy grid maps in a network composed of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This system is based on compression, serialization, packaging, and data transmission whenever the maps receive updates. The simulations demonstrate that the application can significantly reduce the map data size and efficiently share it among all members of the cooperative system. Moreover, a scalability test demonstrates that the system is scalable with a growing number of UAVs.