Engagement time constrained formation generation guidance following a non-manoeuvring leader

This paper addresses the problem of formation generation of two UAVs with constraints on engagement time. A leader–follower scenario with the leader being non-manoeuvring is considered. The work uses track guidance method for generating a class of follower spatial paths and combines it with a speed profile that works to minimize the error with respect to the desired follower position. Path curvature analysis is carried out and set of feasible spatial paths which abide by the UAV turn rate constraint is obtained. The equilibrium point of the resulting nonlinear system is found to be the desired formation geometry and stability analysis using Lyapunov direct method guarantees convergence to the equilibrium point. The set of achievable engagement times is deduced with closed-form limits. Extensive simulation exercises are carried out incorporating follower speed limits, wind and vehicle dynamics, and presence of obstacles. The work highlights a flexible guidance method which effectively uses one design parameter and analytic conditions for formation generation.

[1]  Hugh H. T. Liu,et al.  Formation UAV flight control using virtual structure and motion synchronization , 2008, 2008 American Control Conference.

[2]  Eric W. Frew,et al.  Lyapunov Vector Fields for Autonomous Unmanned Aircraft Flight Control , 2008 .

[3]  Jan Tommy Gravdahl,et al.  Modelling of UAV formation flight using 3D potential field , 2008, Simul. Model. Pract. Theory.

[4]  S. M. Shahruz,et al.  Formation of a group of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) , 2001, Proceedings of the 2001 American Control Conference. (Cat. No.01CH37148).

[6]  Min-Jea Tahk,et al.  Optimal UAV formation guidance laws with timing constraint , 2006, Int. J. Syst. Sci..

[7]  Ashwini Ratnoo,et al.  Path Following Using Trajectory Shaping Guidance , 2013 .

[8]  Timothy W. McLain,et al.  Vector Field Path Following for Miniature Air Vehicles , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[9]  Naira Hovakimyan,et al.  Coordinated Path Following for Time-Critical Missions of Multiple UAVs via L1 Adaptive Output Feedback Controllers , 2007 .

[10]  Abin Alex Pothen,et al.  Curvature-Constrained Lyapunov Vector Field for Standoff Target Tracking , 2017 .

[11]  I. Kaminer,et al.  Time-Critical Cooperative Control of Multiple Autonomous Vehicles: Robust Distributed Strategies for Path-Following Control and Time-Coordination over Dynamic Communications Networks , 2012, IEEE Control Systems.

[12]  Kyuseung Han,et al.  Unmanned aerial vehicle swarm control using potential functions and sliding mode control , 2008 .

[13]  Peter W. Gibbens,et al.  Synthetic-Waypoint Guidance Algorithm for Following a Desired Flight Trajectory , 2010 .

[14]  Namhoon Cho,et al.  Three-Dimensional Nonlinear Differential Geometric Path-Following Guidance Law , 2015 .

[15]  Jonathan P. How,et al.  Performance and Lyapunov Stability of a Nonlinear Path Following Guidance Method , 2007 .

[16]  Ashwini Ratnoo,et al.  UAV Formation Generation Guidance with Engagement Time Constraints , 2018 .

[17]  Min-Jea Tahk,et al.  Line-of-Sight Guidance Laws for Formation Flight , 2005 .

[18]  Ashwini Ratnoo,et al.  Vector Field Based Formation Generation Guidance for Arbitrary Initial Conditions , 2014 .

[19]  Timothy W. McLain,et al.  Small Unmanned Aircraft: Theory and Practice , 2012 .

[20]  Ashwini Ratnoo,et al.  Path Following Using Trajectory Shaping Guidance , 2015 .

[21]  A. Betser,et al.  Flying in formation using a pursuit guidance algorithm , 2005, Proceedings of the 2005, American Control Conference, 2005..

[22]  Jonathan P. How,et al.  A New Nonlinear Guidance Logic for Trajectory Tracking , 2004 .

[23]  Kenji Uchiyama,et al.  Guidance Law Based on Bifurcating Velocity Field for Formation Flight , 2010 .

[24]  Jinyoung Suk,et al.  Formation flight of unmanned aerial vehicles using track guidance , 2018 .

[25]  Mario Innocenti,et al.  Formation flight control - A behavioral approach , 2001 .

[26]  Eric Bonabeau,et al.  Evolving behaviors for a swarm of unmanned air vehicles , 2005, Proceedings 2005 IEEE Swarm Intelligence Symposium, 2005. SIS 2005..

[27]  Jinyoung Suk,et al.  Design of a Track Guidance Algorithm for Formation Flight of UAVs , 2015 .

[28]  Ashwini Ratnoo,et al.  A Tangential Guidance Logic for Virtual Target Based Path Following , 2017 .

[29]  G. Ambrosino,et al.  Algorithms for 3D UAV Path Generation and Tracking , 2006, Proceedings of the 45th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control.

[30]  I. Kaminer,et al.  Path Generation, Path Following and Coordinated Control for TimeCritical Missions of Multiple UAVs , 2006, 2006 American Control Conference.

[31]  Nong Cheng,et al.  Path-following control for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles based on a virtual target , 2014 .

[32]  Chang Boon Low,et al.  A flexible virtual structure formation keeping control for fixed-wing UAVs , 2011, 2011 9th IEEE International Conference on Control and Automation (ICCA).