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Sky Shepherds: A Tale of a UAV and Sheep

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Shepherding UxVs for Human-Swarm Teaming

Part of the book series: Unmanned System Technologies ((UST))

Abstract

This chapter considers the evolution of a shepherding agent from the traditional sheep dog to a UAV capable of fostering the welfare of sheep throughout the shepherding task. Dorper sheep have been exposed to a single Sky Shepherd, with results of such screening tests discussed. Behaviours identified include an alert response, whereby flock members display curiosity toward the UAV. As testing progressed, flocks displayed synchronous alert and drive behaviour responses, with some sheep, hypothesised to be leader sheep, pausing periodically and displaying curiosity towards the UAV.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering and Information Technology, University of New South Wales, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Kate J. Yaxley, Nathan McIntyre, Jayden Park & Jack Healey

Authors
  1. Kate J. Yaxley
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  2. Nathan McIntyre
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  3. Jayden Park
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  4. Jack Healey
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kate J. Yaxley .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of New South Wales, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Hussein A. Abbass

  2. University of New South Wales, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Robert A. Hunjet

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Yaxley, K.J., McIntyre, N., Park, J., Healey, J. (2021). Sky Shepherds: A Tale of a UAV and Sheep. In: Abbass, H.A., Hunjet, R.A. (eds) Shepherding UxVs for Human-Swarm Teaming. Unmanned System Technologies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60898-9_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60898-9_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-60897-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-60898-9

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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