J Control Theory Appl 2010 8 (1) 61–68
DOI 10.1007/s11768-010-9188-6
Design and implementation of
a leader-follower cooperative control system for
unmanned helicopters
Ben YUN
1
, Ben M. CHEN
1
, Kai Yew LUM
2
, Tong H. LEE
1
(1.Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576;
2.Temasek Laboratories, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117508)
Abstract: In this paper, we present a full scheme for the cooperative control of multiple unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV) helicopters. We adopt the leader-follower pattern to maintain a fixed geometrical formation while navigating the
UAVs following certain trajectories. More specifically, the leader is commanded to fly on some predefined trajectories,
and each follower is controlled to maintain its position in formation using the measurement of its inertial position and
the information of the leader position and velocity, obtained through a wireless modem. More specifications are made for
multiple UAV formation flight. In order to avoid possible collisions of UAV helicopters in the actual formation flight test,
a collision avoidance scheme based on some predefined alert zones and protected zones is employed. Simulations and
experimental results are presented to verify our design.
Keywords: Unmanned aerial vehicles; Cooperative control; Flight formation; Collision avoidance
1 Introduction
Unmanned aerial vehicles, or commonly known as UAVs,
are autonomous flying vehicles equipped with sensing de-
vices and possibly weapons. They can be used to carry out
tasks in dangerous situations, for example, reconnaissanc-
ing over hostile territories or tracking battle damage of en-
emy targets (see, e.g., [1]). UAVs have many potential mili-
tary and civil applications and are also of great scientific sig-
nificance in academic research. However, the current UAVs
tend to be complex, expensive, and often bulky. This has
motivated the development of the coordinating control of
low-cost UAVs in formation flight, in which a group of
UAVs fly in a desired graphic formation . The advantages
of formation flight have long been known. It is believed
that the formation-flying cooperative behavior of birds can
increase the efficiency of group performance. Military air-
craft, ground units, and naval forces use this strategy to
benefit from mutual protection, concentration of offensive
power, and simplification of control (see, e.g., [2∼6]).
The UAV research group at the National University of
Singapore has successfully constructed a series of UAV
helicopters, integrated from some hobby radio-controlled
helicopters such as Raptor 90, and implemented fully au-
tonomous flight tests that include hovering, waypoint tra-
jectory tracking navigation, automatic take-off and landing
(see [7∼9]). It is natural for us to expand our research do-
main to the flight formation of multiple UAVs.
In this paper, we present a full scheme for the cooperative
control of multiple UAV helicopters, including control sys-
tem design and collision avoidance scheme. In our proposed
formation flight strategy, we adopt the leader-follower pat-
tern to maintain a fixed geometrical formation while navi-
gating the UAVs following certain trajectories. More specif-
ically, the leader UAV is commanded to fly along some pre-
defined trajectories, and each follower is controlled to main-
tain its position in formation using the measurement of its
inertial position and the information of the leader position
and velocity, obtained through a wireless modem. In order
to avoid possible collisions of UAV helicopters in the actual
formation flight test, a collision avoidance scheme based
on some predefined alert zones and protected zones is em-
ployed. Other specifications for multiple UAV formation are
also investigated. Simulations and experimental results are
presented to verify our design.
2 Dynamic model of single UAV platform
We review in this section some results for modeling
and control of small-scale helicopters. A linear model has
been obtained using frequency-domain system identifica-
tion methods. This model is valid for hovering and low-
velocity maneuvers (see, e.g., Kim et al. [10]). A controller
is used for waypoint navigation of a single UAV. This con-
troller is used as the inner loop controller in the design
of a formation flight controller. It is used to guarantee the
asymptotic stability of the relative motion between the UAV
and the surrounding air.
The dynamic transient response of the relative motion be-
tween the UAV and the surrounding air can be assumed to
be much faster than that of the flight trajectories in con-
ventional maneuvering (see Larson [11]). Based on this as-
sumption a frequency domain identification technique is
used to fit the model parameters. We have completed the
Received 7 September 2009.
c
South China University of Technology and Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, CAS and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010