Software-enabled control for intelligent UAVs

Uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) demands software architectures capable of distributed computing, plug-and-play of control algorithms, rapid real-time algorithm switching and online reconfiguration and customization of algorithms. An open control platform (OCP)that enables such capabilities is required. Under the DARPA software enabled control (SEC) program, Georgia Tech is teamed with The Boeing Company to develop advances in SEC technologies, as well as to provide a mid-level OCP. The objective of this project is to develop SEC methods for complex dynamic systems with the application focus on intelligent UAVs. The approach is to use a hierarchical control structure where mission planning and situation awareness are at the highest level, the flight control is at the lowest level, and a mid-level controller coordinates the transitions between mode selection and mode implementation through mode switching and reconfigurable control. The focus in this project is to develop mid-level control algorithms for mode transition through mode switching and fault tolerant control through flight control reconfiguration.