Metaheuristic Optimization-based Fault-tolerant Formation Control of Multiple UAVs

In this work, we propose a fault-tolerant formation control strategy against severe and non-severe actuator failures, applied to multiple hexarotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Initially, the UAVs are operating in a prescribed leaderless formation topology using the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) optimization algorithm. As long as the UAV cannot accomplish the desired task due to severe motor failures, a formation reconfiguration is achieved by an optimal assignment scheme so that each UAV can be assigned to an optimal position. If non-severe actuator faults occur, different reconfiguration techniques are tested to evaluate the effects of fault occurrence on the endurance of the UAV. The performance of the proposed strategy is evaluated by simulations on a team of six hexarotor UAVs on Matlab/Simulink.