Safe Certificate-Based Maneuvers for Teams of Quadrotors Using Differential Flatness

TL;DR

This paper introduces safety barrier certificates for collision avoidance in teams of differential flatness-based quadrotors, combining control barrier functions with trajectory modification to ensure safety.

Contribution

It presents a novel collision avoidance method using safety barrier certificates that minimally modify trajectories with provable safety guarantees.

Findings

Proven theoretical safety guarantees for collision avoidance.

Experimental validation on a team of five quadrotors.

Effective integration with existing control and planning algorithms.

Abstract

Safety Barrier Certificates that ensure collision-free maneuvers for teams of differential flatness-based quadrotors are presented in this paper. Synthesized with control barrier functions, the certificates are used to modify the nominal trajectory in a minimally invasive way to avoid collisions. The proposed collision avoidance strategy complements existing flight control and planning algorithms by providing trajectory modifications with provable safety guarantees. The effectiveness of this strategy is supported both by the theoretical results and experimental validation on a team of five quadrotors.