Machine Learning and AI with Simple Python and Matlab Scripts

16GAs for Drone Flight Control

16.1 Introduction

In this chapter, we introduce a popular application of GAs to a real‐life problem, namely flight control of a drone that operates as a member of a swarm. Typically, a drone is capable of making its own flight decisions. In this example application we assume that the goal for each drone is to spread uniformly over an area of interest such that each drone positions itself as far away from its near neighbours as its communication range allows. This task is especially formidable when there are no mechanisms for synchronization, collaboration or a leader–follower scheme among the drones. Drone flight control is selected for this chapter to illustrate the power of GAs in handling these otherwise intractable problems.

16.2 UAV Swarms

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly referred to as drones, are capable of eliminating the need for deploying costly equipment and dispatching personnel to accomplish complex objectives in many engineering applications. A swarm of UAVs can be rapidly sent into areas of interest to operate as a group without preexisting infrastructural support. UAVs can form and maintain a mobile ad‐hoc network (MANET) to accomplish tasks that are difficult with traditional communication infrastructures with centralized controllers, human operators and synchronization among UAVs [18]. Typical examples include unmanned aerial patrols being deployed over industrial sites to detect harmful gas leakages, checking agricultural ...