UAV-CYBER-SIM is a modular, distributed simulator for evaluating coordinated multi-UAV operations, ground control logic, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities. It integrates ArduPilot, Gazebo, QGroundControl, and PyMAVLink to enable realistic mission execution, MAVLink communication, plan approval, and testing of system-level resilience.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are expected to play an essential role in the future of air mobility. Small UAVs are already being deployed for tasks such as package delivery, surveillance, and disaster response. These missions increasingly involve complex requirements, including dynamic flight planning, multi-operator coordination, networked communications, and secure operations.
Example multi-UAV simulation scenario: eight UAVs operated by four private ground stations using MAVLink over 5G. Each UAV broadcasts Remote ID locally and submits its flight plan for external approval and deconfliction.
To support this evolving ecosystem, UAV-CYBER-SIM offers a comprehensive testbed for simulating and analyzing multi-UAV operations. Each UAV is managed by its own ground control station and follows a pre-approved mission plan, reflecting realistic operator behavior. The simulator also supports remote identification broadcasting, MAVLink message exchange, plan validation workflows, and adversarial testing through cyberattack simulation. This makes it well suited for research in autonomy, communication infrastructure, and secure operations across a wide range of application domains.
System architecture overview: distributed multi-UAV simulation with separate processes connected via UDP/TCP. Shown for two operators, each managing two UAVs from remote ground control stations.
QGroundControl
Gazebo
Build the Docker image for uli-net-sim and then this repository.
To enable running GUI applications (e.g. QGroundControl, Gazebo) inside Docker on Linux systems, launch the container with the following command:
docker run -u ubuntu --env="DISPLAY" --volume="/tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix:rw" --volume="/dev/dri:/dev/dri:ro" --name <container name> dalbick/uav-cyber-simVS Code's 'Dev Containers' extension can be used to attach to a running container in order to run the example Jupyter notebooks.
If you encounter "cannot connect to display" error, run the following on your host system:
xhost +local:rootIf you use this simulator, please cite the original paper:
@inproceedings{diaz2026uavsim,
title={Networked Simulation for Cybersecurity Evaluation of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Dense Urban Environments},
author={Diaz-Gonzalez, Abel and others},
booktitle={AIAA SciTech 2026},
year={2026}
doi={10.2514/6.2026-1797}
}
For questions or collaborations, email abel.diaz.gonzalez@vanderbilt.edu.