A Research of Multi UAV Formation Method

Abstract

In recent years, the application demand of UAV has been increasing rapidly. In the face of complex tasks, the mission capability of a single UAV is limited. Comparatively, multi UAV formation can greatly improve the efficiency, reliability and redundancy. This paper presents a multi UAV formation method based on ROS system. Firstly, several UAV formation methods are introduced. With the comparison of these methods, the distributed formation method is adopted. Then, the software architecture of UAV formation system is designed based on ROS system. And on this basis, the estimation node, control node, formation node and display node are designed. By subscribing to Px4 flight control node, the estimation node obtains the UAV status, position, speed and Euler angle. Then the estimation node converts the message format and publishes them for other nodes to use. The control node subscribes to the formation control command of the formation node, estimates the UAV state information of the node, calculates the expected speed of the UAV through the previously adopted formation control algorithm, and sends the message to the Px4 control module. In addition, the control node establishes contact with the control module to realize the functions of unlocking, locking, takeoff and landing. The formation node can calculate the relative deviation of UAV formation position according to different formation requirements. The display node is used to display the current status of UAV, including position, speed, yaw angle, etc. Finally, the feasibility of the formation control method is verified in the Gazebo simulation environment, and the results show that the method can realize formation flying, formation transformation and maintenance. The above contents lay a certain foundation for the future related research and can be used for reference.