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DR1: Multi-sUAS Collision Avoidance System
DR1: Multi-sUAS Collision Avoidance System
Student: Elliot Kim
Research mentor: Tony Alarcon
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have broad applications in sectors such as search and rescue, surveillance, and package delivery, driving the need for advanced automation to enhance efficiency. With the proliferation of drones, collision avoidance becomes crucial to prevent property damage, injuries, or fatalities. Building on previous research [1], which identified critical dynamic factors like geolocation uncertainty, wind profiles, and stopping distances, this project advances the methodology for calculating minimum safety distances between drones. By implementing vectorized safety distance equations, the research applies buffers directionally—adjusting for geolocation and wind in all directions, and for stopping distances in the drone’s travel direction. This refinement results in smaller, yet effective safety boundaries, increasing the number of drones that can safely operate in confined spaces. Additionally, a Pygame-based simulation has been developed to visualize drone safety barrier interactions, offering valuable insights into potential collision scenarios during multi-drone missions. This tool enhances strategic planning and real-time safety evaluations.
[1] Pedro Antonio Alarcon Granadeno, Arturo Miguel Russell Bernal, Md Nafee Al Islam, Jane Cleland-Huang. An Environmentally Complex Requirement for Safe Separation Distance between UAVs. Requirements Engineering Conference 2024.
Tony Alarcon is a Ph.D. Student in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, advised by Dr Jane Cleland-Huang. Before that, he obtained his B.S. degree from the University of California majoring in astrophysics. His research fields are in Cyberphysical Systems, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, with experience with reinforcement learning and LLMs.
Dr Jane Cleland-Huang is the lead researcher on the Drone Response project — a system for managing and monitoring the flights of semi-autonomous small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS). As part of this project, she is involved in Smart and Connected Communities (SCC) research and is working closely with the South Bend Fire Department to co-design a system in which sUAS serve as full-mission partners for emergency response scenarios.
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