SwarmSim : a framework for execution and visualization of drone swarm simulations

Abstract

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the use of personal drones in the general public, and with this increase in use has come an increase in research regarding the capabilities of these drones, particularly in the context of groups or "swarms" of drones attempting to collectively accomplish tasks. While exciting, this field requires either drones be operated and tested in the real world or through a simulation, and while the real world testing is often difficult to execute well, the alternative has been for each research group to develop their own simulation. This thesis proposes (1) a new framework meant to enable researchers to easily perform experiments in the context of drone swarms and (2) a novel problem that serves as an example of the type of problem the framework can assist in solving.