Distributed UAV Flight Management for SWaP-Constrained Rerouting
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current flight management systems (FMS) face significant size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints and lack access to additional information for decision-making, particularly in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with limited computational resources.
Innovation Solution
A distributed flight management system that utilizes a microservices architecture across multiple platforms, employing score-based decision-making to allocate resources and distribute FMS functionality, allowing UAVs to communicate and share information via a cloud or edge network for efficient rerouting and route optimization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a centralized flight management system is used, then decision-making is consolidated, but size, weight, and power constraints are imposed on the platform
Solution Approach 1:
The flight management system is segmented into distributed microservices deployed across multiple platforms. Each platform runs independent FMS instances that can autonomously make decisions, eliminating the need for a single heavy centralized system while maintaining decision-making reliability through distributed consensus mechanisms.
2Adaptability or versatility
If FMS operations are transferred to the cloud via containerization, then resources are distributed, but significant SWaP constraints still apply
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements local quality by enabling each platform to run its own FMS microservices locally rather than relying on cloud-based containerization. This allows platforms with limited computational resources to operate autonomously with minimal energy consumption while still benefiting from distributed architecture and resource sharing across the network.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a distributed FMS architecture is implemented, then SWaP constraints are avoided, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs universal, standardized microservices that can be deployed across diverse platforms with varying capabilities. These multi-functional microservices handle multiple FMS operations (route planning, collision avoidance, traffic management) in a unified manner, reducing system complexity despite the distributed architecture by providing a consistent interface and behavior across all platforms.
4Stability of the object's composition
If centralized information sources are used, then data consistency is maintained, but access to additional information for decision-making is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary information exchange mechanism that enables distributed platforms to share and access information from multiple sources while maintaining data consistency through standardized protocols. This intermediary layer allows each FMS instance to access additional information from other platforms and external sources without compromising the consistency of core flight data.
Data Source
AI summary
A unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a flight management system (FMS) that is in communication with other FMSs on other UAVs. The FMS includes a route manager that retrieves data from an avoidance source and determines an avoidance importance score for a route adjustment request based on the data. The route manager also determines a route complexity score for the request. A rerouter within the FMS compares the route complexity score for the request to a complexity threshold for the UAV. Based on the comparison, the rerouter forwards to the request to a rerouting client on the UAV or to the other UAVs via inter-application communication. If the request is sent to the other UAVs, then the processed new route is provided by the originating UAV.