Design of formation control laws for manoeuvred flight

2004 ◽  
Vol 108 (1081) ◽  
pp. 125-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Campa ◽  
S. Wan ◽  
M. R. Napolitano ◽  
B. Seanor ◽  
M. L. Fravolini
Keyword(s):  
Nonlinear Model ◽  
Formation Control ◽  
Formation Flight ◽  
Control Synthesis ◽  
Simulation Studies ◽  
West Virginia University ◽  
Control Laws ◽  
Control Scheme ◽  
System Robustness ◽  
Position And Orientation

Abstract This paper presents identification, control synthesis and simulation results for an YF-22 aircraft model designed, built, and instrumented at West Virginia University. The ultimate goal of the project is the experimental demonstration of formation flight for a set of 3 of the above models. In the planned flight configuration, a pilot on the ground maintains controls of the leader aircraft while a wingman aircraft is required to maintain a pre-defined position and orientation with respect to the leader. The identification of both a linear model and a nonlinear model of the aircraft from flight data is discussed first. Then, the design of the control scheme is presented and discussed with an emphasis on the amount of information, relative to the leader aircraft, needed by the wingman to maintain formation. Using the developed nonlinear model, the control laws for a maneuvered flight of the formation are then simulated with Simulink® and displayed with the Virtual Reality Toolbox®. Simulation studies have been performed to evaluate the effects of specific parameters and the system robustness to atmospheric turbulence. The conclusions from this analysis have allowed the formulation of specific guidelines for the design of the electronic payload for formation flight.

String Instabilities in Formation Flight: Limitations Due to Integral Constraints

2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 873-879 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Seiler ◽  
A. Pant ◽  
J. K. Hedrick
Keyword(s):  
Flight Control ◽  
Formation Control ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Feedback Loops ◽  
Formation Flight ◽  
Control Laws ◽  
Aerodynamic Efficiency ◽  
Preceding Vehicle ◽  
Specific Control ◽  
Theoretical Results

Flying in formation improves aerodynamic efficiency and, consequently, leads to an energy savings. One strategy for formation control is to follow the preceding vehicle. Many researchers have shown through simulation results and analysis of specific control laws that this strategy leads to amplification of disturbances as they propagate through the formation. This effect is known as string instability. In this paper, we show that string instability is due to a fundamental constraint on coupled feedback loops. The tradeoffs imposed by this constraint imply that predecessor following is an inherently poor strategy for formation flight control. Finally, we present two examples that demonstrate the theoretical results.

scholarly journals Leader-Follower Based Locally Rigid Formation Control

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishna Raghuwaiya ◽  
Bibhya Sharma ◽  
Jito Vanualailai
Keyword(s):  
Transport System ◽  
Formation Control ◽  
Intelligent Transportation System ◽  
Dynamic Environment ◽  
Intelligent Transport System ◽  
Nonholonomic Mobile Robots ◽  
Control Laws ◽  
Intelligent Transport ◽  
Final Destination ◽  
Control Scheme

This paper addresses motion control of a cooperative intelligent transport system (C-ITS) of nonholonomic mobile robots navigating a dynamic environment while maintaining a locally rigid formation. We consider the design of acceleration-based control inputs that govern the motion of cooperative intelligent transport system (C-ITS) using the artificial potential fields method for the avoidance of obstacles and attraction to designated targets. The control scheme utilizes a new leader-follower strategy using Cartesian coordinates to accomplish a collision-free locally rigid formation of an autonomous and intelligent transportation system. The concepts of virtual parking bays and minimum distance technique (MDT) are utilized to attain prescribed orientations of the formation at the final destination. The robustness of the control scheme is established by considering the effect noise on the formation, while the effectiveness of the proposed nonlinear control laws is demonstrated through computer simulations.

scholarly journals A Distributed Formation Control Scheme with Obstacle Avoidance for Multiagent Systems

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaowu Yang ◽  
Xiaoping Fan
Keyword(s):  
Obstacle Avoidance ◽  
Multiagent Systems ◽  
Formation Control ◽  
Adaptive Controller ◽  
Control Input ◽  
Control Laws ◽  
Integral Term ◽  
Control Scheme ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Avoidance Problem

This study considers the problem of formation control for second-order multiagent systems. We propose a distributed nonlinear formation controller where the control input of each follower can be expressed as a product of a nonlinear term that relies on the distance errors under the leader–follower structure. In the leader–follower structure, a small number of agents are assumed to be the leaders, and they are responsible for steering a group of agents to the specific destination, while the rest of the agents are called followers. The stability of the proposed control laws is demonstrated by utilizing the Lyapunov function candidate. To solve the obstacle avoidance problem, the artificial potential approach is employed, and the agents can avoid each possible obstacle successfully without getting stuck in any local minimum point. The control problem of multiagent systems in the presence of unknown constant disturbances is also considered. To attenuate such disturbances, the integral term is introduced, and the static error is eliminated through the proposed PI controller, which makes the system stable; the adaptive controller is designed to reduce the effect of time-varying disturbances. Finally, numerical simulation results are presented to support the obtained theoretical results.

Adaptive Control Scheme for Coupled Tank Process

2018 ◽  
pp. 89-95
Author(s):  
Vinodhini M.
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Control ◽  
Nonlinear Behaviour ◽  
Simulation Studies ◽  
Input Output ◽  
Control Scheme ◽  
Direct Model ◽  
Multivariable Process ◽  
Model Reference Adaptive ◽  
Siso System ◽  
Adaptive Control Scheme

The objective of this paper is to develop a Direct Model Reference Adaptive Control (DMRAC) algorithm for a MIMO process by extending the MIT rule adopted for a SISO system. The controller thus developed is implemented on Laboratory interacting coupled tank process through simulation. This can be regarded as the relevant process control in petrol and chemical industries. These industries involve controlling the liquid level and the flow rate in the presence of nonlinearity and disturbance which justifies the use of adaptive techniques such as DMRAC control scheme. For this purpose, mathematical models are obtained for each of the input-output combinations using white box approach and the respective controllers are developed. A detailed analysis on the performance of the chosen process with these controllers is carried out. Simulation studies reveal the effectiveness of proposed controller for multivariable process that exhibits nonlinear behaviour.

scholarly journals Reinforcement-Learning-Based Asynchronous Formation Control Scheme for Multiple Unmanned Surface Vehicles

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 546
Author(s):  
Jiajia Xie ◽  
Rui Zhou ◽  
Yuan Liu ◽  
Jun Luo ◽  
Shaorong Xie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Formation Control ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Gradient Algorithm ◽  
Robot System ◽  
Physical Relationship ◽  
Unmanned Surface Vehicles ◽  
Main Challenge ◽  
Control Scheme ◽  
Multi Robot

The high performance and efficiency of multiple unmanned surface vehicles (multi-USV) promote the further civilian and military applications of coordinated USV. As the basis of multiple USVs’ cooperative work, considerable attention has been spent on developing the decentralized formation control of the USV swarm. Formation control of multiple USV belongs to the geometric problems of a multi-robot system. The main challenge is the way to generate and maintain the formation of a multi-robot system. The rapid development of reinforcement learning provides us with a new solution to deal with these problems. In this paper, we introduce a decentralized structure of the multi-USV system and employ reinforcement learning to deal with the formation control of a multi-USV system in a leader–follower topology. Therefore, we propose an asynchronous decentralized formation control scheme based on reinforcement learning for multiple USVs. First, a simplified USV model is established. Simultaneously, the formation shape model is built to provide formation parameters and to describe the physical relationship between USVs. Second, the advantage deep deterministic policy gradient algorithm (ADDPG) is proposed. Third, formation generation policies and formation maintenance policies based on the ADDPG are proposed to form and maintain the given geometry structure of the team of USVs during movement. Moreover, three new reward functions are designed and utilized to promote policy learning. Finally, various experiments are conducted to validate the performance of the proposed formation control scheme. Simulation results and contrast experiments demonstrate the efficiency and stability of the formation control scheme.

scholarly journals Formation Tracking Control and Obstacle Avoidance of Unicycle-Type Robots Guaranteeing Continuous Velocities

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 4374
Author(s):  
Jose Bernardo Martinez ◽  
Hector M. Becerra ◽  
David Gomez-Gutierrez
Keyword(s):  
Obstacle Avoidance ◽  
Tracking Control ◽  
Global Coordinate System ◽  
Avoidance Task ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Control Laws ◽  
Formation Tracking ◽  
Control Scheme ◽  
First Time ◽  
Hierarchical Scheme

In this paper, we addressed the problem of controlling the position of a group of unicycle-type robots to follow in formation a time-varying reference avoiding obstacles when needed. We propose a kinematic control scheme that, unlike existing methods, is able to simultaneously solve the both tasks involved in the problem, effectively combining control laws devoted to achieve formation tracking and obstacle avoidance. The main contributions of the paper are twofold: first, the advantages of the proposed approach are not all integrated in existing schemes, ours is fully distributed since the formulation is based on consensus including the leader as part of the formation, scalable for a large number of robots, generic to define a desired formation, and it does not require a global coordinate system or a map of the environment. Second, to the authors’ knowledge, it is the first time that a distributed formation tracking control is combined with obstacle avoidance to solve both tasks simultaneously using a hierarchical scheme, thus guaranteeing continuous robots velocities in spite of activation/deactivation of the obstacle avoidance task, and stability is proven even in the transition of tasks. The effectiveness of the approach is shown through simulations and experiments with real robots.

Automatic Flight Control of Unmanned Helicopter Based on Nonlinear Model

2012 ◽  
Vol 472-475 ◽  
pp. 1492-1499
Author(s):  
Run Xia Guo
Keyword(s):  
Nonlinear Model ◽  
Flight Control ◽  
Attitude Control ◽  
Lyapunov Stability Theory ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Unmanned Helicopter ◽  
Control Laws ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
State Dependent ◽  
Compensation Technique

The Unmanned helicopter (UMH) movement was divided into two parts, namely, attitude and trajectory motion. And then a two-timescale nonlinear model was established. The paper improved and expanded state dependent riccati equation (SDRE) control approach, deriving analytical conditions for achieving global asymptotic stability with lyapunov stability theory. Proof was given. By combining improved SDRE control with nonlinear feed-forward compensation technique, the full envelop flight attitude control laws could be designed. On the basis of attitude control, trajectory controller was developed. Actual flight tests were carried out. Test results show that the control strategy is highly effective.

Fault-Tolerant Formation Tracking Control for Heterogeneous Multiagent Systems with Directed Topology

2021 ◽  
Vol 01 (01) ◽  
pp. 2150001
Author(s):  
Jianye Gong ◽  
Yajie Ma ◽  
Bin Jiang ◽  
Zehui Mao
Keyword(s):  
Tracking Control ◽  
Formation Control ◽  
Control Algorithm ◽  
Fault Tolerant ◽  
Control Technique ◽  
Fault Estimation ◽  
Consensus Control ◽  
Formation Tracking ◽  
Control Scheme ◽  
Aerial Vehicle

In this paper, the adaptive fault-tolerant formation tracking control problem for a set of heterogeneous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) systems with actuator loss of effectiveness faults is investigated. The cooperative fault-tolerant formation control strategy for UAV and UGV collaborative systems is classified into the altitude consensus control scheme for follower UAVs and the position cooperative formation control scheme for all followers. The altitude consensus control algorithm is designed by utilizing backstepping control technique to drive all UAVs to a desired predefined height. Then, based on synchronization formation error information, the position cooperative formation control algorithm is proposed for all followers to reach the expected position and perform the desired formation configuration. The adaptive fault estimation term is adopted in the designed fault-tolerant formation control algorithm to compensate for the actuator loss of effectiveness fault. Finally, a simulation example is proposed to reveal the validity of the designed cooperative formation tracking control scheme.

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