Robust distributed formation control of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles based on virtual structure

Abstract

In this paper, a new nonlinear robust control scheme based on the virtual structure method is developed for the formation control of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The control problem is divided into two subproblems: a smooth trajectory generation for the virtual rigid body (VRB) in the inertial frame, and the formation control design in the VRB frame. The tracking states of the neighboring UAVs are employed for the UAVs which can not obtain the VRB states directly. The super-twisting based nonlinear robust control is designed to compensate the airflow influences between UAVs. Lyapunov based stability is utilized to prove the finite-time convergence of the formation error signals and the global asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system. Real-time experimental results are included to validate the performance of the proposed design.