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Control laws for a formation of autonomous flight vehicles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2016

M. Chiaramonti
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
G. Mengali
Affiliation:

Abstract

This paper investigates the performance of a flight control system, based on nonlinear dynamics inversion theory, whose aim is to maintain a given geometry of a formation of unmanned aerial vehicles. A fundamental aspect is the complete three dimensionality of the formation geometry that provides a substantial improvement over existing two-dimensional control laws. The designed control system has been implemented in a Simulink® environment and its effectiveness has been tested with a campaign of numerical simulations.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2009 

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