Quantum machine learning (QML) has received a lot of attention according to its light training parameter numbers and speeds; and the advances of QML lead to active research on quantum multi-agent reinforcement learning (QMARL). Existing classical multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) features non-stationarity and uncertain properties. Therefore, this paper presents a simulation software framework for novel QMARL to control autonomous multi-drones, i.e., quantum multi-drone reinforcement learning. Our proposed framework accomplishes reasonable reward convergence and service quality performance with fewer trainable parameters. Furthermore, it shows more stable training results. Lastly, our proposed software allows us to analyze the training process and results.

According to the rapid development of drone technologies, drones are widely used in many applications including military domains. In this paper, a novel situation-aware DRL- based autonomous nonlinear drone mobility control algorithm in cyber-physical loitering munition applications. On the battlefield, the design of DRL-based autonomous control algorithm is not straightforward because real-world data gathering is generally not available. Therefore, the approach in this paper is that cyber-physical virtual environment is constructed with Unity environment. Based on the virtual cyber-physical battlefield scenarios, a DRL-based automated nonlinear drone mobility control algorithm can be designed, evaluated, and visualized. Moreover, many obstacles exist which is harmful for linear trajectory control in real-world battlefield scenarios. Thus, our proposed autonomous nonlinear drone mobility control algorithm utilizes situation-aware components those are implemented with a Raycast function in Unity virtual scenarios. Based on the gathered situation-aware information, the drone can autonomously and nonlinearly adjust its trajectory during flight. Therefore, this approach is obviously beneficial for avoiding obstacles in obstacle-deployed battlefields. Our visualization-based performance evaluation shows that the proposed algorithm is superior from the other linear mobility control algorithms.

AI researchers from the Allen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and the University of Washington have trained a drone agent with a box on top to catch a range of 20 objects in a simulated environment. In trials, the drone had the lowest catch success rate with toilet paper (0%) and the highest with toasters (64.4%). Other objects included alarm clocks, heads of lettuce, books, and basketballs. Overall, the system's success rate in catching objects outpaces two variations of a current position predictor model for 3D spaces, as well as a frequently cited reinforcement learning framework proposed in 2016 by Google AI researchers. For the study, a launcher threw each object two meters (6.5 feet) toward a drone agent.