Simulation Platform for Unmanned Aerial Systems in Emergency Ad Hoc Networks (Best Student Paper Award)
Key: LZRS19-1
Author: Patrick Lieser, Julian Zobel, Björn Richerzhagen, Ralf Steinmetz
Date: May 2019
Kind: In proceedings
Book title: ISCRAM 2019 Conference Proceedings – 16th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management
Abstract: Natural disasters regularly impede communication infrastructure, leaving civilians without reliable means of communication. In such cases, ad hoc networks enable basic communication inside the affected areas. However, low human mobility and group formation limit their performance, as messages are confined to distinct communication islands. Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles can help in spreading messages across multiple such islands, as proposed in the literature. Evaluating the resulting Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) under real-world conditions requires significant resources, e.g., field tests and prototypes. For a systematic assessment of a UAS and its support strategies under controlled conditions, simulations are the preferred method. To this end, we propose the first simulation platform that combines ad hoc communication on the ground and the corresponding human mobility models with an extensible model for a networked UAS and their respective support strategies. We implement and evaluate two representative strategies, showcasing the capabilities of the proposed platform.

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