Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: This paper presents the development of a software toolkit to support ground and aerial robotics at the University of Florida’s (UF) Autonomy Park, and the challenges that came with deploying multi-agent outdoor aerial robotics. The robots available to researchers at Autonomy Park include approximately 30 quadruped, wheeled and multirotor robots that need to communicate heterogeneously and run a variety of controllers. Hardware challenges included managing a fleet of aerial robots and relying on RTK-GPS (Real-Time Kinematic Global Positioning System) for precise localization outdoors. Software challenges primarily consisted of implementing Robot Operating System 2 (ROS2) on different unmanned platforms and mitigating environmental challenges in software. A simulation environment was developed to enable researchers to test controllers and structure programs that could be replicated onboard the robots. An autonomous herding experiment was implemented using the author’s software package and simulated results were demonstrated.
DOI: 10.2514/6.2025-98685
Authors: James Cross, Warren Dixon
Language: English
Subfield: Control and Systems Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4413191148