Abstract
We propose a novel distributed control framework for teleoperated platooning of multiple three-dimensional (3D) fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), consisting of the following two layers: 1) virtual frame layer, which generates the target 3D nonholonomic motion of the virtual nonholonomic frames (VNFs) using the nonholonomic decomposition (D. J. Lee, 2010) and backstepping in such a way that the VNFs are to maintain the platoon formation in a distributed manner while respecting the directionality of the fixed-wing UAV; and 2) local control layer, which drives each fixed-wing UAV to track their respective VNF with their under-actuation and aerodynamic disturbance effects fully taken into account by using the backstepping and Lyapunov-based design techniques. Convergence and stability of salient aspects of each layer and their combination are theoretically established. Simulations with 25 fixed-wing UAVs and a haptic device are also performed to validate the theory with their multimedia provided at https://youtu.be/Z3Mo66KIsns.
Highlights
F ORMATION control of multiple unmanned vehicles is drawing an increasing interest due to its promise to materialize numerous powerful commercial and military applications, with their implementation becoming ever closer to reality with the recent rapid advancement of hardware and software technologies
We propose a novel distributed two-layer control framework for the teleoperated platooning of multiple fixedwing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) evolving in SE(3), which can accommodate arbitrary/unpredictable operator command or that from automatic mission planner
Our framework can accommodate other formation shapes, in this letter, we focus on the line-topology platooning as shown in Fig. 1, since it allows the multiple UAVs to navigate through obstacles or pass through a narrow passage one by one via their collective serpentine motion, relevant to urban air mobility (UAM) scenarios
Summary
F ORMATION control of multiple unmanned vehicles is drawing an increasing interest due to its promise to materialize numerous powerful commercial and military applications, with their implementation becoming ever closer to reality with the recent rapid advancement of hardware and software technologies. They are known to be subject to the directionality constraint, that is, in a typical flying condition, their Cartesian velocity should be predominantly along the forward direction (i.e., along the main vehicle axis) to produce enough lift force for the vehicle To address this directionality of the fixed-wing UAVs, many prior works have adopted the two-dimensional (2D) nonholonomic unicycle model (with its permissible velocity modeling the UAV’s forward velocity) and proposed distributed formation control schemes for that (e.g., [5]–[9]).
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