Unmanned aerial vehicle swarm control using potential functions and sliding mode control

Abstract This paper deals with a behaviour-based decentralized control strategy for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarming by using artificial potential functions and sliding mode control technique. Individual interactions for swarming behaviour are modelled using the artificial potential functions. For tracking the reference trajectory of the swarming of UAVs, a swarming centre is considered as the object of control. The sliding-mode control technique is adopted to make the proposed swarm control strategy robust with respect to the system uncertainties and varying mission environment. Collision avoidance against obstacles and pop-up threats is also considered. Numerical simulations are performed to verify the performance of the proposed controller.