Middleware Requirements for Collaborative Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

With the recent advances in the aircraft technologies, software, sensors, and communications; unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can offer a wide range of applications. Some of these applications may involve multiple UAVs that cooperate and collaborate to achieve a common goal. This kind of applications is termed collaborative UAVs applications. One of the main research topics for multiple UAVs is developing an effective framework to enable the development of software systems for collaborative UAVs operations. One possible approach is to rely on middleware technologies to simplify the development and operations of such applications. This paper discusses the challenges of developing collaborative UAVs applications and how middleware can help resolve some of these challenges. In addition, the paper studies the utilization of service-oriented middleware infrastructures for implementing and operating collaborative UAVs applications. Finally, the paper investigates the collaborative aspect of multiple UAVs and lists the functions needed for service-oriented middleware to satisfy the development and operations of such applications.