Formation control of multi-UAVs using negative-imaginary systems theory

We present a new formation and consensus control architecture for a team of multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) using negative-imaginary (NI) systems theory performing cooperative tasks such as rescue missions, disaster area exploration or agriculture. A linear velocity control algorithm for the lateral and longitudinal directions is proposed to stabilize each UAV and to meet the requirements of a NI plant. After that, a formation for UAVs is selected and used for providing reference points. Then, a collaborative structure which enables the UAVs to follow the predefined formation is illustrated. Finally, some typical examples of formation control for two UAVs on a plane are implemented in simulation and in real-flight to validate the efficiency of our proposed control architecture.