Formation flying of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has attracted much attention for its versatility in cooperative tasks. In this paper, a distributed formation planning method is proposed for UAVs. First, we design a path searching algorithm, swarm-A*, which can enhance the cohesion of a swarm, i.e., preventing the disintegration of the swarm when it encounters an obstacle. Then, after waypoint reallocation, a formation trajectory optimization framework is formulated. Smooth formation trajectories for UAVs to travel safely in obstacle-laden environments can be obtained by solving the optimization problem. Next, a tracking controller based on sliding mode control is designed, ensuring that the UAVs follow the planned formation trajectories under dynamic constraints. Finally, numerical simulations and experiments are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


    Access

    Download


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Distributed Formation Planning for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles


    Contributors:
    Zeming Zhao (author) / Xiaozhen Zhang (author) / Hao Fang (author) / Qingkai Yang (author)


    Publication date :

    2025




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    Unknown




    Coded Distributed Path Planning for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

    Douma, Cameron / Wang, Baoqian / Xie, Junfei | AIAA | 2021


    Vision-Based Distributed Formation Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

    Fathian, Kaveh / Doucette, Emily / Curtis, J. Willard et al. | ArXiv | 2018

    Free access

    ROUTE PLANNING FOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES

    ALI SYED MOHAMMAD / DUKE LOWELL L / AKBAR ZEHRA et al. | European Patent Office | 2024

    Free access

    ROUTE PLANNING FOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES

    ALI SYED MOHAMMAD / DUKE LOWELL LYNN / AKBAR ZEHRA et al. | European Patent Office | 2022

    Free access

    ROBOT PLANNING USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES

    HILL MICHAEL BARRETT / RUXTON ADAM NICHOLAS | European Patent Office | 2022

    Free access