Federated learning in drone-based systems

Drones have unique characteristics that allow them to perform tasks that otherwise cannot be accomplished with such efficiency in a cost-effective manner. In many applications, drones often are part of a system with several other drones that help perform related operations. In such a setup, it is beneficial for the drones to learn from the experience of one another. However, sharing sensitive data could be an issue when these drones capture data that belong to different entities (e.g., neighboring farms with different owners who are hesitant to share fine granular data). Federated learning is a natural choice in applications where drones do not want to share their data with any other entity. The federated learning framework comprises several clients (drones) and a server (a base station), where each drone generates a local model with its data and then shares the local model parameter updates with the server, which aggregates these to generate the global model. Operational and strategic constraints such as communication between drones and base station while the drones are mobile, limited and slow communication channels, uncooperative drones, and information aggregation from multiple drones as well as associated scalability challenges need to be addressed for smooth operation of drone-based systems. We study three elements in this setup. Specifically, we study the amount of shared information (scalability), when to share, and how to aggregate such shared information. Each of these are significant elements that need to be carefully considered for seamless incorporation of federated learning in drone-based systems. Our results indicate that the number of drones and the amount of information they share with the server (base station) are complements where an increase in one compensates for a decrease in the other. We derive bounds for the conditions under which drones want to share their local model updates with the server. For privacy reasons, when drones decide to share only range values instead of exact values of their local model parameters, we observe the decisions based on global model outputs to be different.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Computer Science

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Piramuthu, Otto Benjamin

Contributors dc:contributor

• Caesar, Matthew C

• Drone
• Federated Learning

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Otto Piramuthu

Language dc:language

eng, en

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124503

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/124503