Consensus Control of Multi-UAV Systems Under Communication Constraints: A Protocol-Based Approach

This paper addresses the consensus control problem of leader-follower multi-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems under communication constraints. Three communication protocols, i.e., round-robin, stochastic, and try-once-discard, are systematically investigated to regulate information exchange among followers while reducing communication overhead. A discretetime model is derived using Euler’s forward difference method, and Lyapunov stability theory combined with linear matrix inequality (LMI) techniques is employed to design protocol-dependent controllers. Numerical simulations validate the effectiveness of the proposed methods in achieving asymptotic consensus. The study bridges a research gap by extending communication protocol applications to leader-follower UAV systems, offering theoretical and practical insights for resource-efficient cooperative control.