Event-based formation control for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles under directed topology

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Control Systems
• Cyber-Physical Systems
• Networked Autonomous Systems

Background:

• Formation control of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is critical for coordinated tasks.
• Cyber attacks pose significant threats to the stability and reliability of UAV systems.
• Event-triggered communication is essential for efficient network resource utilization in multi-UAV systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel event-triggered communication scheme for robust formation control of multiple UAVs under cyber attacks.
• To mitigate the impact of cyber attacks on UAV formation stability.
• To enhance network bandwidth efficiency and reduce congestion in multi-UAV systems.

Main Methods:

• An average method is employed to design the event-triggering condition, minimizing false triggers.
• A control compensation approach is utilized to develop an event-based formation control strategy.
• Analysis under directed topology conditions ensures the robustness of the control strategy.

Main Results:

• The proposed scheme significantly reduces unnecessary communication events, conserving network bandwidth.
• The event-based formation control strategy effectively counteracts cyber attacks.
• Sufficient conditions for achieving the desired formation are mathematically derived.

Conclusions:

• The novel event-triggered communication scheme provides a robust solution for multi-UAV formation control under cyber attacks.
• The developed strategy enhances network efficiency and system resilience.
• Simulation results validate the theoretical findings and demonstrate practical applicability.