This paper describes the software architecture of an integrated simulator for the realistic simulation of multi Unmanned aerial vehicle applications. The integrated simulator exploits some already existing tools to simulate a specific part of the overall Unmanned aerial vehicle hardware and software structure: a 3D visualization engine, a physics simulator, a flight control stack and a network simulator to handle communications among Unmanned aerial vehicles. These features are provided by the tools Gazebo, ArduCopterand ns-3 that, however, are not designed to work together in an integrated manner. The solution proposed in this paper is based on a software middleware that coordinates all of these tools, which may optionally be run on multiple interconnected computers, and lets them have a common notion of simulated time during the simulation; moreover, the middleware coordinates the activities of the High-level Logic, which is the software part that implements the strategy and control of the multi Unmanned aerial vehicle application. A Python API is provided to allow developers to write their Unmanned aerial vehicle application (cooperative missions, flocking, etc.) in such a way as to be first simulated and then run onto the real platform with no or few modifications.
Titolo: | An integrated framework for the realistic simulation of multi-UAV applications |
Autori interni: | |
Data di pubblicazione: | 2019 |
Rivista: | |
Handle: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/367579 |
Appare nelle tipologie: | 1.1 Articolo in rivista |