AeroAssistant: A Modern and Flexible UAV Teleoperation Framework

Abstract Operating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) presents significant challenges, particularly in asset inspection scenarios where pilots must navigate cluttered and hazardous environments while maintaining precise positioning and comprehensive surface coverage. These complex tasks remain demanding and stressful even for experienced operators. To address these challenges, this work introduces AeroAssistant, a flexible teleoperation framework that enhances drone operations through integrated shared control algorithms and augmented reality visual cues. The framework provides an intuitive and familiar teleoperation interface while incorporating a modular plugin system that simplifies complex navigation tasks. This paper presents the framework’s architectural components, describes novel interaction paradigms, and demonstrates the capabilities of plugins currently deployed in real UAV systems.