A Feasibility-Enhanced Control Barrier Function Method for Multi-UAV Collision Avoidance

TL;DR

This paper introduces a feasibility-enhanced control barrier function framework for multi-UAV collision avoidance, improving feasibility and robustness in dense scenarios through a new compatibility analysis and decentralized formulation.

Contribution

It proposes a novel sign-consistency constraint based on internal compatibility analysis, enhancing the feasibility of CBF-QP in multi-UAV collision avoidance.

Findings

Reduces infeasibility in dense multi-UAV scenarios

Improves collision avoidance performance over existing methods

Demonstrates robustness under time delays and real-world conditions

Abstract

This paper presents a feasibility-enhanced control barrier function (FECBF) framework for multi-UAV collision avoidance. In dense multi-UAV scenarios, the feasibility of the CBF quadratic program (CBF-QP) can be compromised due to internal incompatibility among multiple CBF constraints. To address this issue, we analyze the internal compatibility of CBF constraints and derive a sufficient condition for internal compatibility. Based on this condition, a sign-consistency constraint is introduced to mitigate internal incompatibility. The proposed constraint is incorporated into a decentralized CBF-QP formulation using worst-case estimates and slack variables. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly reduces infeasibility and improves collision avoidance performance compared with existing baselines in dense scenarios. Additional simulations under varying time delays demonstrate the robustness of the proposed method. Real-world experiments validate the practical applicability of the proposed method.