A Cloud-based Framework for Intelligent Navigation and Coordination for UASs in Urban Areas

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) are gaining momentum in recent years due to their mission flexibility and low cost. In this paper, we introduce a Cloud-based framework for intelligent navigation and coordination for UASs in urban environments with the aim to manage a fleet of small UASs in the low airspace. The core of the framework, called Mission Coordinator, is located on Cloud. It uses a priority-based distributed approach to design a safe and collision-free flight mission for each vehicle. Therefore, the aircraft executes the planned mission, while the Mission Coordinator continuously monitors the fleet of UASs. Thanks to the newest mobile technologies, the UAS is connected with the Cloud with unprecedented opportunities. Combined with Cloud technologies, the proposed framework provides an autonomous mission and guarantees safety to people on the ground. Finally, preliminary simulation results corroborate the validity of our approach, demonstrating how our framework is able to manage a fleet of three aerial robots.