Challenges in Building Very Large Teams

Summary Coordination of large numbers of unmanned aerial vehicles is difficult due to the limited communication bandwidth available to maintain cohesive activity in a dynamic, often hostile and unpredictable environment. We have developed an integrated coordination algorithm based on the movement of tokens around a network of vehicles. Possession of a token represents exclusive access to the task or resource represented by the token or exclusive ability to propagate the information represented by the token. The movement of tokens is governed by a local decision theoretic model that determines what to do with the tokens in order to maximize expected utility. The result is effective coordination between large numbers of UAVs with very little communication. However, the overall movement of tokens can be very complex and, since it relies on heuristics, configuration parameters need to be tuned for a specific scenario or preferences. We have developed a neural network model of the relationship between configuration and environment parameters and performance, that an operator uses to rapidly configure a team or even reconfigure the team online, as the environment changes.