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arXiv · 2608.20906

A Safety-Driven Architectural Framework for Fail-Operational Drone Swarms in Critical Missions

Luiz Giacomossi·Zafer Yigit·Marwan Shakarna·Shoaib Saleemi·Ivan Tomasic·Baran Çurüklü·Håkan Forsberg
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Abstract

The certification of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) swarms for safety-critical operations requires verifiable design assurance. Airworthiness standards demand deterministic reliability, whereas multi-agent coordination algorithms execute non-deterministic models. This paper proposes a mixed-criticality architectural framework that applies SAE ARP4754B methods to swarm reconfiguration. First, a hardware-isolated Safety Monitor functions as a Run-Time Assurance (RTA) gateway, decoupling the flight-critical core from the non-deterministic Swarm Manager. Second, the monitor enforces formal safety contracts based on agent Health Vectors derived systematically from a Functional Hazard Assessment (FHA). Third, the framework propagates these Health Vectors to the collective planner to trigger fail-operational task reallocation, enabling intelligent swarm behaviors without compromising flight-critical isolation. Markov reliability modeling demonstrates that the $10^{-7}$ failures per flight hour Hazardous target is theoretically achievable for our SAIL IV scenario, provided the Safety Monitor meets $C_{monitor}>0.9991$, consistent with DAL B CMD/MON implementations.

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BibTeXRIS

Luiz Giacomossi, Zafer Yigit, Marwan Shakarna, Shoaib Saleemi, Ivan Tomasic, Baran Çurüklü, Håkan Forsberg. 2026-08-21. A Safety-Driven Architectural Framework for Fail-Operational Drone Swarms in Critical Missions. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.20906

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