A self-adaptive system of systems architecture to enable its ad-hoc scalability: Unmanned Vehicle Fleet -- Mission Control Center Case study

TL;DR

This paper presents a self-adaptive architecture for Unmanned Vehicle Fleets that enables dynamic, ad-hoc scalability of the system during operation, enhancing flexibility and robustness in mission management.

Contribution

It introduces a novel self-adaptive system design that allows automatic and manual scaling of UVF based on operational needs, addressing key challenges in System of Systems scalability.

Findings

Successfully demonstrated dynamic UVF scaling in simulation

Enhanced system robustness against UV failures and mission changes

Automated and manual scaling mechanisms validated

Abstract

A System of Systems (SoS) comprises Constituent Systems (CSs) that interact to provide unique capabilities beyond any single CS. A key challenge in SoS is ad-hoc scalability, meaning the system size changes during operation by adding or removing CSs. This research focuses on an Unmanned Vehicle Fleet (UVF) as a practical SoS example, addressing uncertainties like mission changes, range extensions, and UV failures. The proposed solution involves a self-adaptive system that dynamically adjusts UVF architecture, allowing the Mission Control Center (MCC) to scale UVF size automatically based on performance criteria or manually by operator decision. A multi-agent environment and rule management engine were implemented to simulate and verify this approach.