Time-Coordinated Path Following for Multiple Agile Fixed-Wing UAVs with End-Roll Expectations

Abstract

This paper presents a control strategy for multiple unmanned aerial vehicle systems (multi-UAVs) time-coordinated path following with desired endpoint roll attitudes. It utilizes the strong maneuvering capabilities of agile fixed-wing UAVs and incorporates an end-roll expectation. The strategy consists of four steps: time-coordinated control, position control, roll angle planning and attitude control. The position and attitude controllers exhibit Lyapunov exponential stability. The time-coordinated controller addresses the synchronization problem by adjusting the speed based on the coordinated state to achieve progress adjustment. The position controller operates based on the cross-track error and altitude error in the Gravity-Referenced Moving frame. By employing an optimization approach and designing a penalty function, the roll angle sequence is computed. The attitude inner-loop control operates in the [Formula: see text] space and allows for control of large deviations. High-fidelity simulation validates the effectiveness of the proposed method, with normalized coordination error and following error controlled within 2% and 1.2[Formula: see text]m.