Nowadays, some drone Flight Controllers (FCs) support basic automation (e.g., GPS waypoint, return-tohome, path flight, take-off/landing), although it requires direct drone connectivity (e.g., radio, base station/-Ground Control Station (GCS)) and an extensive knowledge over technical details (e.g., assembly, configuration, battery maintenance, flight, etc.). This paper proposes a novel platform that offers an abstraction layer between the end-user and the drone itself, automating most of the drone flight requirements. The platform allows to perform high-level drones control (e.g., up, down, left, right, GPS go-to and stream follow, return to base, etc.) through end-user communications, contributing with a highly modular event-driven control platform, enabling development of more complex integrations between drones and other technologies. The obtained results show that the proposed automated flying drones' platform is able to properly abstract and decouple the direct control, handling up to 32 drones with no significant impact on the performance. The platform is also capable of displaying and correlating sensor metrics obtained in real-time during flight.
Areias et al. REF present a platform that provides an abstraction layer between the end-user and the drone to provide drones as a service.
Towards an Automated Flying Drones Platform
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Computer Science