An Event-based Formation Control Architecture for UAVs Using an Estimator-based Approach

Abstract

Control over wireless links is challenging, especially when many devices need to be serviced simultaneously, e.g., in formations of mobile agents. However, instead of congesting channels with periodic transmissions, devices can make smart decisions, as when their information is worth being transmitted. In this paper, we present a modular architecture that enables event-based formation control with various triggering conditions. In contrast to existing work, our architecture treats the transmission scheme separately from the control task. The separation is achieved through trigger-matching estimators, which provide consistent state estimates of preceding agents in the formation at all times. Moreover the estimation process reduces the noise affecting the system. The effectiveness of the presented approach is shown through simulations, using double integrator and quadrotor agent models and comparing it with a periodic transmission approach.