Papers for

drone fleet managers

Papers whose findings have a practical use for this group, as judged from the abstract. Open a paper to read what it means in practice.

Two robots’ exact collision-free paths solved for optimal movement

A complete analytical characterization of optimal collision-free motion for two robots

Abstract: Collision-free motion planning for multi-agent robotic systems remains an active research area because of the complexity of coordinating robot trajectories, with applications ranging from coordinated drone shows to autonomous operations on land, in the air, and on water. Importantly, the analytical difficulty of nonconvex collision-avoidance constraints has so far driven the development of exclusively numerical methods. We derive a complete analytical characterization of the optimal trajectories for two robots that start and end at rest, under double-integrator dynamics and a squared-acceleration objective. We prove that these trajectories belong to eight distinct contact families and determine which family applies for each configuration of initial and final positions. We analyze the geometrical properties of the optimal trajectories, provide a numerical algorithm for computing them, and discuss how these insights may improve the performance of existing numerical trajectory optimizers.

Fri 30 OctRobotics
The gist
Getting two robots to move without bumping into each other is hard. This paper figures out the exact best ways two robots can move from one spot to another without collisions, starting and stopping smoothly. The authors show there are eight kinds of ideal paths and explain which path fits each situation. They also make a method to find these paths quickly, which can help make robots work together better.
Open → 2610.41558v1

Federated motion uncertainty improves uav tracking across multiple operators

Federated Calibration of Motion Uncertainty for UAV Tracking in Multi-Operator ISAC Systems

Abstract: In integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) systems involving multiple operators, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) tracking can benefit from sensing at multiple base stations, while raw sensing records, channel information, and transmit decisions remain local to each operator. The resulting problem is to obtain a reliable UAV prediction from different track estimates and use it to guide transmission without centralizing their data or control variables. To resolve this, we propose a two-timescale framework comprising slow-timescale motion-uncertainty calibration and online track fusion with predictive beamforming. Local radar innovations calibrate the uncertainty assigned by each tracker to unmodeled UAV motion, with only the resulting parameters shared across operators. During online tracking, covariance intersection (CI) combines local estimates without requiring knowledge of correlations between their estimation errors. The fused prediction then guides each operator's transmission design subject to communication QoS, power, and tracking constraints. We further establish exact rank one recovery for the communication covariances and finite interval bounds on local tracking uncertainty. Simulations show improved consistency of tracking uncertainty under substantial motion model mismatch. CI avoids overconfidence under correlated errors, while using the current fused prediction reduces RMSE by about 31% relative to transmission designed for communication alone, with less than 2% additional power. Ablation further shows that the power difference between current and outdated predictions is driven mainly by predictive covariance rather than predictive mean.

Wed 30 SeptInformation Theory
The gist
Tracking drones using multiple base stations can help improve accuracy, but sharing data directly between different operators is often not possible. The authors present a method that lets each operator keep its data private while still combining tracking information to make better predictions. They use a special technique to handle uncertain drone movements and then merge these estimates without knowing how their errors are related. This combined prediction helps each operator adjust their transmissions, improving tracking accuracy and maintaining communication quality.
Open → 2609.39438v1

Dynamic scheduling reduces maritime task delays by optimizing multi-layer networks

Dynamic Task and Resource Scheduling Towards Space-Air-Ground-Sea Integrated Network

Abstract: In the context of 6G ubiquitous connectivity, the space-air-ground-sea integrated network (SAGSIN) emerges as a new paradigm for pervasive service provisioning. To support expanding maritime activities in infrastructure-scarce ocean areas, we propose an innovative dynamic task and resource scheduling approach for SAGSIN to deliver computing services for vessels. It integrates broad-coverage satellites, relay-capable high-altitude platform (HAP), energy-sufficient coastal base station (BS), and flexibly deployed uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) to accommodate wide-area, highly mobile, and sustained maritime services. To address the challenge of task scheduling across four layers, a dynamic task offloading algorithm is developed. It steers task flows toward servers with light loads, strong computing capabilities, and high-rate links based on real-time system states to reduce task execution delay, integrating an anticipatory satellite handover strategy to mitigate post-handover congestion and improving satellite resource utilization. Considering the limited endurance of UAVs, we impose residual energy constraints to ensure task backlog handover and safe return. Furthermore, the UAV-BS bandwidth allocation, UAV trajectories, and computing resource allocation are jointly optimized to enhance the connectivity among low-altitude devices and accelerate task completion. Simulation results validate the proposed method's superior adaptability to system resource variations during task execution in complex maritime environments, achieving at least a 23% reduction in average task delay over benchmarks.

Fri 25 SeptNetworking and Internet Architecture
The gist
Communication and computing services on the ocean are hard because of limited infrastructure and moving vessels. The authors designed a smart system that uses satellites, flying platforms, coastal stations, and drones to share and process tasks efficiently. Their method chooses the best places and ways to handle tasks to avoid delays and save drone energy. Tests show their approach cuts task delays by at least 23%, helping maritime activities run smoother.
Open → 2609.31011v1