Adaptive Formation Control for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles With Collision Avoidance and Switching Communication Network

A collision-free formation control problem for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with directed switching topologies and disturbances is investigated. A novel distributed control algorithm that uses UAVs local directed switching information is proposed for achieving the required flight formation and ensuring a safe distance between UAVs; the algorithm involves the incorporation of the APF method in the virtual leader formation scheme. Two command signals generated by the virtual position controller are transmitted to the attitude subsystem. For each UAV, an adaptive composite controller is designed by combining a fuzzy system and fast terminal sliding mode control technique to guarantee that tracking errors converge to a stable area around zero. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed composite control algorithm is demonstrated through a simulation.