JCopter: Reliable UAV Software Through Managed Languages

UAVs are deployed in various applications including disaster search-and-rescue, precision agriculture, law enforcement and first response. As UAV software systems grow more complex, the drawbacks of developing them in low-level languages become more pronounced. For example, the lack of memory safety in C implies poor isolation between the UAV autopilot and other concurrent tasks. As a result, the most crucial aspect of UAV reliability-timely control of the flight-could be adversely impacted by other tasks such as perception or planning. We introduce JCopter, an autopilot framework for UAVs developed in a managed language, i.e., a high-level language with built-in safe memory and timing management. Through detailed simulation as well as flight testing, we demonstrate how JCopter retains the timeliness of C-based autopilots while also providing the reliability of managed languages.