Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Swarm Systems Research Articles

Finite-Time Formation Control for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Swarm System With Time-Delay and Input Saturation

This paper deals with finite-time formation control problems of unmanned aerial vehicle swarm system with time-delay and input saturation. Using precise feedback linearization, first, the nonlinear time-delay model of unmanned aerial vehicle is transformed into a linear second-order time-delay system. Based on the neighbors’ states, a fixed-time distributed observer is constructed to estimate the leader’s state for each follower unmanned aerial vehicle quickly and accurately. Moreover, by utilizing Artstein’s transformation, the delayed second-order system is transformed into a delay-free system and a saturation function is used to tackle the input saturation problem. Then, a finite-time formation control protocol is designed based on the Artstein’s transformation and saturation function. Rigorous proof shows that all control inputs are bounded and the formation control with time-delay is achieved in finite time. Finally, a simulation example is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed protocol.

Anti-Jamming Communications in UAV Swarms: A Reinforcement Learning Approach

Intelligent unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm may accomplish complex tasks through cooperation, relying on inter-UAV communications. This paper aims to improve the communication performance of intelligent UAV swarm system in the presence of jamming, by multi-parameter programming and reinforcement learning. This paper considers a communication system, where the communication between a UAV swarm and the base station is jammed by multiple interferers. Compared with the existing work, the UAVs in the system can exploit degree-of-freedom in frequency, motion and antenna spatial domain to optimize the communication quality in the receiving area. This paper proposes a modified Q-Learning algorithm based on multi-parameter programming, where a cost is introduced to strike a balance between the motion and communication performance of the UAVs. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the algorithm.

Mission-based Architecture for Swarm Composability (MASC)

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm design and mission application is a burgeoning area of research. The applications of swarm technology to unmanned systems are in the infancy of realization, although clear benefits from the enhanced capabilities can be easily envisioned for commercial and government missions including persistent search, long-term monitoring, sensor data collection, object retrieval, and offensive attack missions. Designing a UAV swarm architecture without considering the mission doctrine is imprudent, as is developing a mission doctrine without understanding the unique capabilities of swarm technology. This paper provides a literature review of current UAV swarm design architectures, most of which employ bottom-up methods with little consideration for an intended operational mission. The proposed top-down framework and modeling approach is focused on developing a modular UAV swarm playbook-type architecture by decomposing a subset of US Navy missions, and developing tactics that can be applied to those missions and support future missions. The framework proposed herein is derived from a consolidation of heuristics from the model-based systems engineering, robotics, human systems integration, biology, and computer science disciplines. The goal of this framework is to provide a standard methodology for designing and operating swarm unmanned systems that will meet the performance requirements for military missions. In this paper, an integrated framework for designing a UAV swarm system with swarm mission doctrine as a primary design factor is presented.

Time-varying formation control for unmanned aerial vehicles with switching interaction topologies

Time-varying formation control problems for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm systems with switching interaction topologies are studied. Necessary and sufficient conditions for UAV swarm systems with switching interaction topologies to achieve predefined time-varying formations are proposed. Based on the common Lyapunov functional approach and algebraic Riccati equation technique, an approach to design the formation protocol is presented. An explicit expression of the formation reference function is derived to describe the macroscopic movement of the whole UAV formation. A quadrotor formation platform consisting of four quadrotors is introduced. Outdoor experiments are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Time-Varying Formation Control for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Theories and Applications

Formation control analysis and design problems for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm systems to achieve time-varying formations are investigated. To achieve predefined time-varying formations, formation protocols are presented for UAV swarm systems first, where the velocities of UAVs can be different when achieving formations. Then, consensus-based approaches are applied to deal with the time-varying formation control problems for UAV swarm systems. Necessary and sufficient conditions for UAV swarm systems to achieve time-varying formations are proposed. An explicit expression of the time-varying formation center function is derived. In addition, a procedure to design the protocol for UAV swarm systems to achieve time-varying formations is given. Finally, a quadrotor formation platform, which consists of five quadrotors is introduced. Theoretical results obtained in this brief are validated on the quardrotor formation platform, and outdoor experimental results are presented.