Decentralized cooperative search by networked UAVs in an uncertain environment

This paper addresses the problem of cooperative search in a given environment by a team of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). We present a decentralized control model for cooperative search and develop a real-time approach for online cooperation among vehicles, which is based on treating the possible paths of other vehicles as "soft obstacles" to be avoided. Using the approach of "rivaling force" between vehicles to enhance cooperation, each UAV takes into account the possible actions of other UAVs such that the overall information about the environment is increased. The simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.