Design, implementation, and integration of a publish/subscribe-like multi-UAV communication architecture

As missions of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles become increasingly elaborate and the level of collaboration between multiple vehicle increases, efficient means of communication enabling data exchange among vehicles and ground elements is the key to a successful accomplishment of the objectives. This paper describes the design, implementation, and integration of a publish/ subscribe-like message passing architecture. Key elements of this approach are the infrastructure that allows the transmission of a generic message from node to node and the ability to automatically forward messages from the source over several intermediates to the destination. The design has been integrated into the flight software and simulation tools developed by the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Research Team at the Georgia Institute of Technology.