Collision-free Formation Control of Multiple Nano-quadrotors

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical and practical framework for collision-free formation control of multiple nano-quadrotors, using potential functions and experimental validation on Crazyflies platforms.

Contribution

It introduces a novel control algorithm for time-varying formation and collision avoidance, validated through indoor experiments with nano-quadrotors.

Findings

Effective collision avoidance among nano-quadrotors demonstrated

Successful formation tracking in practical scenarios

Validation on Crazyflies platform confirms method's robustness

Abstract

The utilisation of unmanned aerial vehicles has witnessed significant growth in real-world applications including surveillance tasks, military missions, and transportation deliveries. This letter investigates practical problems of formation control for multiple nano-quadrotor systems. To be more specific, the first aim of this work is to develop a theoretical framework for the time-varying formation flight of the multi-quadrotor system regarding anti-collisions. In order to achieve this goal, the finite cut-off potential function is devoted to avoiding collisions among vehicles in the group as well as between vehicles and an obstacle. The control algorithm navigates the group of nano-quadrotors to asymptotically reach an anticipated time-varying formation. The second aim is to implement the proposed algorithm on Crazyflies nanoquadrotors, one of the most ubiquitous indoor experimentation platforms. Several practical scenarios are conducted to tendentiously expose anti-collision abilities among group members as well as between vehicles and an obstacle. The experimental outcomes validate the effectiveness of the proposed method in the formation tracking and the collision avoidance of multiple nano-quadrotors.