Autonomous formation flight of UAVs: Control algorithms and field experiments
- Resource Type
- Conference
- Authors
- Zeyu, Jiang; Hui, Cheng; Zefeng, Zheng; Xiaowu, Zhang; Xinyao, Nie; Weibin, Li; Yuxiang, Zou; Shing, Wong Wing
- Source
- 2016 35th Chinese Control Conference (CCC) Control Conference (CCC), 2016 35th Chinese. :7585-7591 Jul, 2016
- Subject
- Communication, Networking and Broadcast Technologies
Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems
Computing and Processing
General Topics for Engineers
Power, Energy and Industry Applications
Robotics and Control Systems
Signal Processing and Analysis
Decision support systems
Nickel
autonomous formation flight
UAVs
trajectory planning
collision avoidance
- Language
- ISSN
- 1934-1768
In this paper, efficient trajectory planning algorithms and centralized control schemes based on onboard sensors and embedded controllers are presented for outdoor autonomous formation flight. Specifically, the optimal reciprocal collision avoidance (ORCA) algorithm is studied to avoid collision among unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during formation switching. Field experiments have been conducted to experimentally study the outdoor formation flight of four UAVs using GPS signals. A ground station is designed to send commands to UAVs and synchronize the communication sequences among the system. With the aid of the experimental platforms, we demonstrate that the presented trajectory planning algorithms and control schemes are suitable for low-accuracy GPS situation.