A collision-free formation reconfiguration control approach for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Formation flying of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has gained a lot of interest due to its many potential advantages. Flying in formation allows wider sensing coverage area and in effect, this leads to improved surveillance and enhanced situational awareness. Also flying in formation eases coordination and data fusion. This paper presents the control architecture for fixed-wing UAV reconfiguration control using a novel combination of known techniques. The current premise is for the UAVs to assume their final target states within a specified time interval while avoiding collisions with one another or with an obstacle during the process. Some simulations are performed to assess the performance of the reconfiguration control scheme. The effects of the control parameters on the reconfiguration trajectories are also examined.