Boeing and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) have demonstrated the ability of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to fly in a swarm. Without using a ground control station, operators communicated with the UAVs, got information from them, and gave them tasks to perform.
Recently conducted tests in Oregon used two ScanEagle UAVs that completed tasks faster and more efficiently by communicating and cooperating with each other. The operator, who had limited flight training, commanded both UAVs with a military radio and a laptop. The UAVs were developed by Insitu (a Boeing subsidiary) and used swarm technology developed by the APL.
Swarming flying robots and UAVs are a popular topic these days (on this site and elsewhere). Boeing is developing UAV swarm technology as part of its mission to deliver a continuous, coordinated flow of information (including data collection, aggregation, and analysis) that gives soldiers situational awareness. Last year, Boeing and the APL conducted two tests of different unmanned vehicle platforms operating in air, land, and sea domains. Those vehicles communicated and collaborated with each other to conduct searches autonomously.
ScanEagle autonomous UAVs can fly in a swarm and communicate directly with ground personnel, without requiring a ground control station. (Source: Boeing)
Boeing says ScanEagle vehicles can be deployed either individually or in groups to monitor trouble spots, relay communications, provide data to troops.
Each ScanEagle carries either an infrared camera or an inertially stabilized electro-optical camera for tracking stationary and moving targets. The vehicle is four feet long and has a 10-foot wingspan. It can fly at altitudes above 16,000 feet and can remain in flight for more than 15 hours. Versions that can stay aloft for more than 30 hours are planned.
A pneumatic wedge catapult launches the UAV, which is guided by an onboard flight-control system and GPS. It can fly pre-programmed or operator-initiated missions. It is retrieved using a skyhook system, so it does not need a runway and can operate from small ships, mobile vehicles, or forward fields.
In previous demonstrations, streaming video and voice over IP communications were used to send information over a secure high-bandwidth network from a ground control station to a ScanEagle 18 miles away, which then relayed the information immediately to ground personnel six miles from the UAV. The new system allows time-critical information to be sent directly to soldiers without being relayed from ground control stations. This is a key component in the military's goal of situational awareness for troops.
ScanEagles, which made their first flight in 2002, are used by the US Navy, the US Marine Corps, and the UK Ministry of Defence's Joint UAV Experimentation Programme.
I'm not sure I see the concern about swarming with these bigger units. (The micro robots in "Prey" are a different story). How is that much different than having individually controlled UAV's with auto-pilot turned on? Instead of a group of people trying to synchronize their movements to achieve a co-ordinated effort it can now be done by a single operator. Actually, any cooridinated air attach could be considered a swarm, its just the number of people that need to be involved (and therefore the number of chances for operator error).
OK, now I get you TJ. I wasn't thinking of a possible hostile use of swarming bots, but that's a really good point. Let's hope no one writes popular fiction about it.
Ann, I'm not worried so much about them going out of control. I'm much more concerned about them being used in an aggressive manner.
One does not even have to board an aircraft anymore to use it for offense, if a swarm of UAVs can do the job.
While it smacks of science fiction, so did Tom Clancy's "Debt of Honor". Seven years after its publication, we saw fiction can become horrific reality.
I'm not automatically against this technology, but I think it can be TOO easily misused. One can say that of any technology, but this one is very easily subverted.
Japan, during WWII, launched an incendiary attack on the continental USA using balloons that drifted across the Pacific. It was completely ineffective.
Last decade, a man used a bunch of balloons to soar in just a lawn chair. This is the proper use of simple lighter-than-air technology.
I see the same thing happening with swarms of UAVs, but hopefully we'll see a crazy man in a lawn chair hoisted aloft with his UAV swarm and never see the other sort of use.
TJ, sounds like you don't relish seeing lots of these in the skies. Your comment make me think of the swarming robots in Michael Crichton's novel Prey, although those were, of course, much smaller nanobots. But the question is similar: what happens if they get out of control? Do we all watch/read too much sci-fi? I'm never sure...
Interesting app, Thinking_J. I'm familiar with the general problem you mention, but in much denser areas than 2 people per sq mi. Search and rescue is one of the apps I've seen mentioned for autonomous swarming UAVs and flying robots. I don't see why it couldn't be applied to wider areas.
UAV swarms would certainly offer a great deal of potential for search and rescue operations, that does seem like a very good application indeed. But then the next stage of evolution, in warfare, would be just like the airplane: first, for observation, and next as an additional weapon. A swarm of armed drones would be quite an effective way to support ground troops, but it would have the terrible risk of being tricked by the enemy. GPS "spoofing", and other methoids of misleading, have all ready been found and demonstrated to work. So there are quite a few potential serious hazards associated with such a swarm technology, since the swarm must communicate to function. The inter-element communications links are the weakest points in swarm technology, and should not be ignored. That is the place where defense against a swarm could be made.
You are correct.. These risks apply to nearly all technology.
Ann... Thanks for update. Interesting to see "swarming" applied to a bit larger platforms.
I could see these being used for wide area search and rescue! A problem out here in the "west" ... elderly wandering off in the desert. Too big of area for most Civil Aviation authorities to work with their resources (my county is over 8,000 sq miles with approx 26 people per sq mile avg) .. dang, it's getting crowded around here.
Thanks, Chuck. I've been amazed at so many of the just plain far-out advancements in robotics, but I think that some of the swarming technology is truly mind-boggling. So are some of the biomimicry breakthroughs in robotics--just wait til you see some of my upcoming posts, like today's about rat heart muscles and jellyfish: http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=250357
Laws are only good for those that follow them. They do absolutely nothing for those that do not care they are breaking a law.
Swarming UAVs makes me think we need a defense against them sooner rather than later. How would one stop a swarm? We might see history come full circle, with barrage balloons over our cities like London 1940.
Kudos, Ann, on your ongoing coverage of a subject that is otherwise not getting much press. The technology is a testament to the incredible advances in coordinated wireless computing.
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