Distributed control for multiple quadrotors with obstacle avoidance using potential fields

This paper presents a navigation technique for a group of quadrotors based on artificial harmonic potential fields in which the leader is considered as a point charge. This is a reactive technique, which is generating the path while the group is moving. To achieve obstacle avoidance the problem is divided in two parts; path generation and path tracking problems. The path generation is based on potential fields and it does not consider the dynamics of the aerial robots while the path tracking problem is tackled using a combination of block control technique and the super twisting control algorithm. The path tracking controller ensures robustness with respect to external disturbances and parameter uncertainties. Numerical simulations are illustrated to show the performance of the proposed control scheme.