From Collaborative Flight to Task Collaboration: Researches and Tests on Multiple Small Fixed-Wing UAVs
摘要
In this paper, we present our recent research in the control and management for multiple UAVs to realize collaborative flight and task collaboration. Firstly, the overall design for cooperative control is introduced, which can organize the whole UAV group and divide it into several subgroups by layered control architecture. And the defined subgroup can serve as the smallest unit for collaborative flight and task execution. Then cooperative flight control strategies for UAVs within subgroup have been proposed, including formation flight and self-organizing formless flocking flight. For those UAV subgroups, task allocation and path planning algorithms have also been developed to support mission management. Furthermore, corresponding collaborative guidance laws have been designed for typical target tracking and target attack scenarios. The effectiveness of the researches mentioned above has been verified through flight tests by using multiple small fixed-wing UAVs.