Time-varying Formation Control for Second-order Nonlinear Multi-UAV System

The problem of time-varying formation analysis and control protocol design for a multi-UAV system with a nonlinear term is considered. Firstly, a formation control protocol for multi-UAV system is proposed for a predefined time-varying formation. Then, the multi-UAV formation problem is transformed into a consensus problem through the formation reference function. The condition for the multi-UAV system to reach time-varying formation is proposed. And the reference function expression is given. Moreover, the stability of the system is proved by the partial stability method. In addition, the design process of time-varying formation control protocol for multi-UAV system with nonlinear term is given. Finally, a multi-UAV system composed of five UAVs is utilized to verify the feasibility of the method by simulink. Simulation results show that the proposed time-varying formation control method is effective.