A leader-follower formation flight control scheme for UAV helicopters

In this paper, we present a control system design and a collision avoidance scheme for the formation flight of multiple UAV helicopters. We adopt the leader-follower pattern to maintain a fixed geometrical formation while navigating the UAVs following certain trajectories. More specifically, the leader is commanded to fly on some predefined trajectories, and each follower is controlled to maintain its position in formation using the measurement of its inertial position and the information of the leader position and velocity, obtained through a wireless modem. In order to avoid possible collisions of UAV helicopters in the actual formation flight test, a collision avoidance scheme based on some predefined alert zones and protected zones is employed. Simulations and experimental results are presented to verify our design.