Autonomous Cooperative Levels of Multiple-Heterogeneous Unmanned Vehicle Systems

TL;DR

This paper defines the concept of autonomous cooperation among heterogeneous unmanned vehicle systems and introduces a classification scheme to evaluate their levels of cooperation and technical maturity.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive definition and classification framework for autonomous cooperation levels in heterogeneous unmanned vehicle systems.

Findings

Defined explicit concept of autonomous cooperation

Proposed a novel classification criterion for cooperation levels

Established a method to assess technical maturity

Abstract

As multiple and heterogenous unmanned vehicle systems continue to play an increasingly important role in addressing complex missions in the real world, the need for effective cooperation among unmanned vehicles becomes paramount. The concept of autonomous cooperation, wherein unmanned vehicles cooperate without human intervention or human control, offers promising avenues for enhancing the efficiency and adaptability of intelligence of multiple-heterogeneous unmanned vehicle systems. Despite the growing interests in this domain, as far as the authors are concerned, there exists a notable lack of comprehensive literature on defining explicit concept and classifying levels of autonomous cooperation of multiple-heterogeneous unmanned vehicle systems. In this aspect, this article aims to define the explicit concept of autonomous cooperation of multiple-heterogeneous unmanned vehicle systems. Furthermore, we provide a novel criterion to assess the technical maturity of the developed unmanned vehicle systems by classifying the autonomous cooperative levels of multiple-heterogeneous unmanned vehicle systems.