Formations of autonomous vehicles using Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

In this work we present the design, development, and testing of a hardware testbed for formation movement, using a fleet of autonomous R/C (remote control) vehicles equipped with Global Positioning Systems (GPS). The work was formulated and executed as a student project with the intent of being both a vehicle for education and investigation into low-cost formation control. The low cost testbed is to be used for validation of communication protocols and control algorithms that with further development may find application in distributed sensing applications such as formation flying helicopters, blimps, or other aerobots. Critical to many applications of such distributed sensing platforms is navigation and collaborative navigation. This effort is part of many ongoing research efforts at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory targeting low-cost distributed science gathering capability on Earth and in space