Cooperative Control of Multiple UAVs for Moving Source Seeking

Advances in multi-agent technologies and UAV technologies make it possible to take advantage of cooperation of multiple UAVs for source seeking. This paper focuses on moving source seeking using multiple UAVs with input constraints. Firstly, a least-squares method is introduced to estimate the gradient of the scalar field at the leader UAV location based on the measurements of all UAVs. Since the moving source velocity is unknown, an adaptive estimator is designed to obtain the velocity. Based on the estimated gradient and source velocity, a guidance law and a sliding mode based heading rate controller are proposed for the leader UAV to achieve level tracking. Heading rate controller for each follower UAV is also developed to achieve circular formation around the leader UAV. Furthermore, the gradient estimation error is analyzed and its influence on moving source velocity estimation and level tracking accuracy is explored as well. Finally, simulation results are provided to verify the proposed approach.