Formation control of a second-order UAVs system under switching topology with obstacle/collision avoidance

Abstract

In this paper, the formation control problem of a second-order unmanned aerial vehicle swarm system with switching topology and collision/obstacle avoidance has been studied. First, the linear consensus protocol for formation control with switching topology is designed using graph theory. The conditions for information consensus are given. Second, the problem of collision/obstacle avoidance is also considered. And the consensus protocol with switching topology and collision/obstacle avoidance is proposed. The improved artificial potential approach is applied to realize collision/obstacle avoidance, which can avoid potential fields falling into the local minimum. Third, system stability under the proposed protocol is proved using the Lyapunov theory. Finally, numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed protocol.