Feedback formation control of UAV swarm with multiple implicit leaders

UAV swarm is a typical application of multi-agent system and consists of a certain number of single- or multi-function UAVs. This paper mainly focuses on the motion consensus and formation control of UAV swarm. A novel formation control algorithm suitable for both leaders and followers is designed, in which leaders are implicitly integrated into the swarm and can be influenced by navigational feedback from their flockmates. Theoretical analysis shows that the system is asymptotically stable and can converge to the desired formation without collision among vehicles. Numerical simulations are performed to illustrate the theoretical results and verify the velocity and trajectory tracking abilities of the algorithm. Results reveal that the proposed algorithm guarantees a swarm of UAVs to fly with predefined formation and track scheduled trajectory. Furthermore, the novel algorithm can reduce the communication consumption and enhance the adaptability and scalability of the system. (C) 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.