Digital twins in AI-controlled navigation tasks for autonomous UAV swarm

Authors

  • Michael Zgurovsky Educational and Scientific Complex “Institute for Applied System Analysis” of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5896-7466
  • Nataliya Pankratova Educational and Scientific Complex “Institute for Applied System Analysis” of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6372-5813
  • Igor Golinko Educational and Scientific Institute of Nuclear and Thermal Energy of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7640-4760
  • Kostiantyn Grishyn Educational and Research Institute for Applied System Analysis of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5950-3739

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20535/SRIT.2308-8893.2025.3.02

Keywords:

digital twin, swarm intelligence, autonomous navigation, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cognitive artificial intelligence platform, decentralized control, simulation modeling, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), behavior trees (BT), electronic warfare

Abstract

The article presents the concept and architecture of digital twins (DT) in the tasks of autonomous swarm navigation for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) controlled by artificial intelligence. Study demonstrated that the effective operation of a drone swarm under conditions of disrupted or absent communication with the ground center is enabled by the functional distribution of DT components between the ground center and onboard levels of AI agents. Mathematical models of ground center’s DT provide strategic modeling, training, mission simulation, and post-mission analysis, while onboard AI agents focus on local adaptation, diagnostics, environmental reconstruction, and cognitive behavior control. Special attention is paid to the interface module of the DT, which provides asynchronous interaction with the ground infrastructure. A functional division on the swarm-level, environment, mission, telemetry, and agent-level DTs is proposed. The effectiveness of the “Learn–Simulate–Deploy–Adapt” cycle for continuous improvement of swarm systems in the context of electronic warfare (EW) and dynamic operational environments was justified. The results were partially supported by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, grant No. 2025.06/0022 “AI platform with cognitive services for coordinated autonomous navigation of distributed systems consisting of a large number of objects”.

Author Biographies

Michael Zgurovsky, Educational and Scientific Complex “Institute for Applied System Analysis” of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv

Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, professor, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Academic advisor of Educational and Scientific Complex “Institute for Applied System Analysis” of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv, Ukraine.

Nataliya Pankratova, Educational and Scientific Complex “Institute for Applied System Analysis” of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv

Corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, professor, Doctor of Technical Sciences, the deputy director of Educational and Scientific Complex “Institute for Applied System Analysis” of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv, Ukraine.

Igor Golinko, Educational and Scientific Institute of Nuclear and Thermal Energy of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv

Candidate of Technical Sciences (Ph.D.), an associate professor at the Department of Energy Processes Automation of Educational and Scientific Institute of Nuclear and Thermal Energy of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv, Ukraine.

Kostiantyn Grishyn, Educational and Research Institute for Applied System Analysis of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv

Ph.D. student at Educational and Research Institute for Applied System Analysis of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv, Ukraine.

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Published

2025-09-29

Issue

No. 3 (2025)

Section

Theoretical and applied problems and methods of system analysis

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