# A Distributed Control Framework of Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Dynamic Wildfire Tracking

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.07926 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.07926/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 20 Mar 2018.

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Multi-UAV Planning for Cooperative Wildfire Coverage and Tracking with Quality-of-Service Guarantees](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.10544/) (2022)
- [PyroTrack: Belief-Based Deep Reinforcement Learning Path Planning for Aerial Wildfire Monitoring in Partially Observable Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.11095/) (2024)
- [Decision-making of Emergent Incident based on P-MADDPG](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.12673/) (2022)
- [ED3R: Energy-Aware Distributed Disaster Detection via Cooperative Agents in Robotic Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.17739/) (2026)
- [D3ARC: Time-Critical Distributed Disaster Detection for Asynchronous Cooperative Multi-Robot Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.07350/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Wild-land fire fighting is a hazardous job. A key task for firefighters is to observe the "fire front" to chart the progress of the fire and areas that will likely spread next. Lack of information of the fire front causes many accidents. Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to cover wildfire is promising because it can replace humans in hazardous fire tracking and significantly reduce operation costs. In this paper we propose a distributed control framework designed for a team of UAVs that can closely monitor a wildfire in open space, and precisely track its development. The UAV team, designed for flexible deployment, can effectively avoid in-flight collisions and cooperate well with neighbors. They can maintain a certain height level to the ground for safe flight above fire. Experimental results are conducted to demonstrate the capabilities of the UAV team in covering a spreading wildfire.