Finite-Time Formation Control for Clustered UAVs with Obstacle Avoidance Inspired by Pigeon Hierarchical Behavior

To address the formation control issue of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a finite-time control scheme based on terminal sliding mode (TSM) is investigated in this paper. A quadcopter UAV with the vertical takeoff property is considered, with cascaded kinematics composed of rotational and...

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Main Authors: Zhaoyu Zhang, Yang Yuan, Haibin Duan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Drones
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/9/4/276
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author Zhaoyu Zhang
Yang Yuan
Haibin Duan
author_facet Zhaoyu Zhang
Yang Yuan
Haibin Duan
author_sort Zhaoyu Zhang
collection DOAJ
description To address the formation control issue of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a finite-time control scheme based on terminal sliding mode (TSM) is investigated in this paper. A quadcopter UAV with the vertical takeoff property is considered, with cascaded kinematics composed of rotational and translational loops. To strengthen the application in the low-cost UAV system, the applied torque is synthesized with an auxiliary rotational system, which can avoid utilizing direct attitude measurement. Furthermore, a terminal sliding mode surface is established and employed in the finite-time formation control protocol (FTFCP) as the driven thrust of multiple UAVs over an undirected topology in the translational system. To maintain the safe flight of the UAV clusters in an environment to avoid collision with obstacles or with other UAV neighbors, a pigeon-hierarchy-inspired obstacle avoidance protocol (PHOAP) is proposed. By imitating the interactive hierarchy that exists among the homing pigeon flocks, the collision avoidance scheme is separately enhanced to generate the repulsive potential field for the leader maneuver target and the follower UAV cluster. Subsequently, the collision avoidance laws based on pigeon homing behavior are combined with the finite-time sliding mode formation protocol, and the applied torque is attached as a cascaded structure in the attitude loop to synthesize an obstacle avoidance cooperative control framework. Finally, simulation scenarios of multiple UAVs to reach a desired formation among obstacles is investigated, and the effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated.
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spelling doaj-art-605b6bcb0dc74155b4d17edd682727642025-08-20T02:28:12ZengMDPI AGDrones2504-446X2025-04-019427610.3390/drones9040276Finite-Time Formation Control for Clustered UAVs with Obstacle Avoidance Inspired by Pigeon Hierarchical BehaviorZhaoyu Zhang0Yang Yuan1Haibin Duan2National Key Laboratory of Aircraft Integrated Flight Control, School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Aircraft Integrated Flight Control, School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Aircraft Integrated Flight Control, School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, ChinaTo address the formation control issue of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a finite-time control scheme based on terminal sliding mode (TSM) is investigated in this paper. A quadcopter UAV with the vertical takeoff property is considered, with cascaded kinematics composed of rotational and translational loops. To strengthen the application in the low-cost UAV system, the applied torque is synthesized with an auxiliary rotational system, which can avoid utilizing direct attitude measurement. Furthermore, a terminal sliding mode surface is established and employed in the finite-time formation control protocol (FTFCP) as the driven thrust of multiple UAVs over an undirected topology in the translational system. To maintain the safe flight of the UAV clusters in an environment to avoid collision with obstacles or with other UAV neighbors, a pigeon-hierarchy-inspired obstacle avoidance protocol (PHOAP) is proposed. By imitating the interactive hierarchy that exists among the homing pigeon flocks, the collision avoidance scheme is separately enhanced to generate the repulsive potential field for the leader maneuver target and the follower UAV cluster. Subsequently, the collision avoidance laws based on pigeon homing behavior are combined with the finite-time sliding mode formation protocol, and the applied torque is attached as a cascaded structure in the attitude loop to synthesize an obstacle avoidance cooperative control framework. Finally, simulation scenarios of multiple UAVs to reach a desired formation among obstacles is investigated, and the effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/9/4/276finite-time formation controlterminal sliding mode surfaceunmanned aerial vehiclesobstacle avoidancepigeon flock behavior
spellingShingle Zhaoyu Zhang
Yang Yuan
Haibin Duan
Finite-Time Formation Control for Clustered UAVs with Obstacle Avoidance Inspired by Pigeon Hierarchical Behavior
Drones
finite-time formation control
terminal sliding mode surface
unmanned aerial vehicles
obstacle avoidance
pigeon flock behavior
title Finite-Time Formation Control for Clustered UAVs with Obstacle Avoidance Inspired by Pigeon Hierarchical Behavior
title_full Finite-Time Formation Control for Clustered UAVs with Obstacle Avoidance Inspired by Pigeon Hierarchical Behavior
title_fullStr Finite-Time Formation Control for Clustered UAVs with Obstacle Avoidance Inspired by Pigeon Hierarchical Behavior
title_full_unstemmed Finite-Time Formation Control for Clustered UAVs with Obstacle Avoidance Inspired by Pigeon Hierarchical Behavior
title_short Finite-Time Formation Control for Clustered UAVs with Obstacle Avoidance Inspired by Pigeon Hierarchical Behavior
title_sort finite time formation control for clustered uavs with obstacle avoidance inspired by pigeon hierarchical behavior
topic finite-time formation control
terminal sliding mode surface
unmanned aerial vehicles
obstacle avoidance
pigeon flock behavior
url https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/9/4/276
work_keys_str_mv AT zhaoyuzhang finitetimeformationcontrolforclustereduavswithobstacleavoidanceinspiredbypigeonhierarchicalbehavior
AT yangyuan finitetimeformationcontrolforclustereduavswithobstacleavoidanceinspiredbypigeonhierarchicalbehavior
AT haibinduan finitetimeformationcontrolforclustereduavswithobstacleavoidanceinspiredbypigeonhierarchicalbehavior