On the guidance of an UAV formation applying Multi-Layer Control scheme

Abstract

In robotics, the navigation problem can be split in planning, execution, checking and correction. An approach to deal with these tasks is based on the Multi-Layer Control scheme (MLCS). In this technique, each layer is responsible for an individual step of the formation control problem, such as; to define and optimize the desired robot pose; to avoid or minimize collision risks; to control the robots for accomplishing the formation, and so on. In this work, a positioning task for a platoon of six aerial robots is guided by the MLCS methodology. The procedure is developed as follows: first, the off-line planning layer organizes the desired formation according to the current robot position; then, the robots are clustered in a set of triangular formations; and finally, each triangle is controlled for reaching its desired goal. Simulation results illustrate and validate the proposal.