Autonomous Multi-UAV Net Defense System for Aerial Drone Interception

The rapid growth of the UAV market and increasing drone incidents near critical infrastructure have created new security challenges. While various counter-drone systems exist, they often have significant limitations, particularly regarding safe interception. This paper presents a novel approach developed within the MIDRAS project for safely capturing potentially dangerous drones with a net carried by multiple cooperative UAVs in formation flight in mid-air. The implementation combines centralized path planning with decentralized formation control, integrates a hybrid control strategy combining elements of Leader-Follower and Virtual Structure approaches, enhanced by a modified Model Reference Adaptive Controller (MRAC) for improved formation stability. The technical description shows the specialized mechanical dampening system with integrated load sensing. The results show successful interception of drones traveling at speeds up to $30 \mathrm{~m} / \mathrm{s}$, with the formation maintaining stability even under these great impact forces. The capability to autonomously capture a target drone is shown, including target capture, transport, and controlled release, while maintaining formation integrity throughout all operational phases.