Distributed control of unmanned aerial vehicle elastic formation with speed adaptability

For a team of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the leader-follower type, the dynamic relative position relationships between followers and the leader are described with elastic distance vector. The desired geometric shape in formation change and maintenance is constructed via the elastic coefficient matrix of distance in the three dimensional space. In the second-order kinematics model, follower vehicles' control equation is linearized with the elastic distance vector. Furthermore, the distributed control strategy is adopted for information interaction of UAVs in the formation and the feedback control algorithm is designed for the formation elastic control. Simulation results show that this control method can effectively achieve the formation geometry shape changing and maintaining during the flight process. Moreover, the elastic distance between two adjacent vehicles can adapt to the changes of the leader vehicles' velocities, so the tracking performance is not only improved greatly but also more secure.