A Novel Graph-Based Multi-Layer Framework for Managing Drone BVLoS Operations

Drones have become increasingly popular in a variety of fields, including agriculture, emergency response, and package delivery. However, most drone operations are currently limited to within Visual Line of Sight (VLoS) due to safety concerns. Flying drones Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLoS) broadens to new challenges and opportunities, but also requires new technologies and regulatory frameworks to ensure that the drone is constantly under the control of a remote operator. In this work, we propose a novel graph-based multi-layer framework that closely resembles real-world scenarios and challenges in order to plan drone BVLoS operations. Our framework includes layers of constraints such as ground risk, cellular network infrastructure, and obstacles, at different heights. From the multi-layer structure, a graph is constructed whose edges are weighted with a dependability score that takes into account the information of the layers, allowing efficient path planning of BVLoS missions, using algorithms such as Dijkstra’s. Since the built graph can be really large, we also propose lighter graph-based corridors by considering only a limited portion of the original graph. Through extensive experimental evaluation on a real dataset, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework in solving the Maximum Dependability Path Problem (MDP2), which can be efficiently solved by applying the Dijkstra’s algorithm.