Collision Avoidance in Fixed-Wing UAV Formation Flight Based on a Consensus Control Algorithm

This paper addresses a collision avoidance problem for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the process of high-speed flight, thereby enabling UAV cooperative formation flight and effective mission completion. The main contribution is to propose a collision avoidance control algorithm for a multi-UAV system based on a bi-directional network connection structure. To effectively avoid collisions between UAVs and between UAVs and obstacles, the proposed consensus-based algorithm and a “leader-follower”control strategy are simultaneously applied for UAV formation control to ensure the convergence of the formation. Each of the UAVs has the same forward velocity and heading angle in the horizontal plane, and they maintain a constant relative distance in the vertical direction. This paper proposes a consensus-based collision avoidance algorithm for multiple UAVs based on an improved artificial potential field method. Simulation tests involving multiple UAVs were performed to validate the proposed control algorithm and to provide a reference for engineering applications.