Collective Formation Control of Multiple Constant-Speed UAVs with Limited Interactions

In this chapter, we consider coordination control of a group of UAV agents with constant and in general nonidentical speeds. The control input is designed to steer their orientations and the control objective is to achieve a desired formation configuration for all the agents subject to constant-speed constraints. Through a formation feasibility analysis by a three-agent example, we show that it is generally impossible to control and maintain a formation by constant-speed agents if target formation shapes are defined by agents’ actual positions. We then adopt a circular motion center as a virtual position for each agent to define the target formation shape. Two different formation design approaches, namely, a displacement-based approach and a distance-based approach, are discussed in detail to coordinate a group of constant-speed agents in achieving a target formation with stable circular motions via limited interactions.