Mixed-Reality Testbed for Autonomous Fixed-Wing UAVs Human-Autonomy Teaming

Fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) testbeds are crucial to safely support advancements toward Human-Autonomy Teaming (HAT) research. While HAT algorithms aim to unify human and Artificial Intelligence (AI) collaboration for autonomous vehicle operations, a safe and secure experimental platform enables reliability testings before such algorithms’ deployment into real-world operations. However, hardware tests can pose external risks and air regulatory issues for full-scale outdoor experiments, and setting up a Ground Control Station (GCS) to monitor and command multiple UAVs on-site can be challenging due to equipment and logistical limitations. Therefore, this paper proposes a Mixed-Reality (MR) testbed that allows verification and validation of remotely operated UAV operations, enabling HAT frameworks to safely perform controls of physical fixed-wing UAVs in a controlled indoor environment. We further discuss the design for the communication architecture of fixed-wing UAVs for indoor flight experiments and its integration into the MR system. Finally, we present a use case where our proposed testbed is applied in HAT research involving dynamic path planning problems.