Simulation and Analysis of Grid Formation Method for UAV Clusters Based on the 3 × 3 Magic Square and the Chain Rules of Visual Reference

Abstract

Large-scale unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) formations are vulnerable to disintegration under electromagnetic interference and fire attacks. To address this issue, this work proposed a distributed formation method of UAVs based on the 3 × 3 magic square and the chain rules of visual reference. Enlightened by the biomimetic idea of the plane formation of starling flocks, this method adopts the technical means of airborne vision and a cooperative target. The topological structure of the formation’s visual reference network showed high static stability under the measurement of the network connectivity index. In addition, the dynamic self-healing ability of this network was analyzed. Finally, a simulation of a battlefield using matlab showed that, when the loss of UAVs reaches 85% for formations with different scales, the UAVs breaking formation account for 5.1–6% of the total in the corresponding scale, and those keeping formation account for 54.4–65.7% of the total undestroyed fleets. The formation method designed in this paper can maintain the maximum number of UAVs in formation on the battlefield.

Special Issue on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

“…In the case of multiple vehicles, distributed cooperative control laws are proposed in [10] for the problem of interception of static and maneuvering targets by several UAVs. In [11], a distributed formation controller is presented using specific index patterns and chain rules of visual references among the vehicles of the fleet, resulting in a good robustness wrt losses of vehicle(s).…”

Research on a new improved UAV anti-jamming and optimization model

“…In this case, multiple relay UAVs need to be deployed in the path to form a swarm network in the sky by establishing an UAV-to-UAV link (UAV) between numerous source nodes and ground control stations. With its flexible mobility and strong battlefield adaptability, UAVs have been widely used in various fields 9 . performance of UAVs was remarkable, and UAVs may become the main force of future warfare [10][11][12][13] .…”