Formation Flight of Multiple UAVs via Onboard Sensor Information Sharing

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Control Systems
• Aerospace Engineering
• Distributed Systems

Background:

• Coordinated flight of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is essential for large-scale monitoring and multi-point measurements.
• Existing formation flight studies often lack realistic dynamic characteristics, relying on simulations or ground robots.
• Effective sensor information sharing among UAVs is crucial for robust formation control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an onboard sensor information sharing system for multi-UAV formation flight.
• To design and implement formation flight algorithms that account for communication delays.
• To validate the proposed system and algorithms through numerical simulations and flight tests.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of radiofrequency (RF) telemetry communication delays for onboard sensor sharing.
• Design of a formation guidance law for multiple UAVs, supporting circular and close formations.
• Development of a multi-UAV hardware platform, including avionics and airframe.
• Performance evaluation using numerical simulations and real-world flight tests.

Main Results:

• Successful implementation of an onboard sensor information sharing system for UAVs.
• Demonstrated effectiveness of the designed formation guidance law in simulations.
• Validation of the multi-UAV formation flight algorithm through practical flight tests.

Conclusions:

• The proposed system and algorithms enable reliable sensor information sharing for multi-UAV formation flight.
• The developed hardware platform and guidance laws are effective in real-world flight scenarios.
• This research contributes to advancing coordinated autonomous flight capabilities for UAVs.