Path-Following Formation Coordination for Multiple UAVs Considering Communication Constraints

This article is related to the coordinated formation control of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with con-fined communication resources under a path-following context. To fulfill path following without any temporal limitations, an individual robust heading control law is derived for UAVs to approximate the predefined orbit characterized by implicit functions free from operational times, whereas a concise and computationally efficient observation option, i.e., unknown sys-tem dynamics estimator (USDE) is incorporated to online resist the wind perturbations through an ideal invariant manifold and low-pass filtering. To enable coordination behaviors under lim-ited communication bandwidths, an USDE-based cooperative formation protocol with aperiodic communication is constructed to achieve time requirements and velocity assignment, where an event-based communication scheduling policy including a con-tinuous-time state predictor is presented, rendering that infor-mation exchange only occurs at pre-specified discrete instants and local control updates are independent of neighbors’ triggering sequences, such that high-frequency communication occupa-tion and controller execution can be successfully eliminated. Additionally, a coordinated argument corresponding to the projective arc length is skillfully devised to achieve velocity agreement even navigating along the curvilinear path. The sign-ificant benefit is that spatial-temporal decoupling formation coordination can be accomplished with decreased communication cost and lessened control consumption. The convergence of entire path-following system is demonstrated to be bounded while Zeno behavior is circumvented. The feasibility and benefits are evaluated through simulation outcomes.