Decentralized multiple V-formation control in undirected time-varying network topologies

Abstract

It is well known that the V-shape formation of fixed-wing aerial vehicles can contribute to saving fuel consumption from its induced drag reduction. Although it has been widely adopted on various flight missions, the conventional formation method of forming a single V-formation has issues on robustness and scalability if large number of agents are involved. In this paper, we propose a decentralized and scalable approach capable of generating separated multiple V-shape formations for the undirected time-varying networked agents. Using a variation of the multi-consensus algorithm, a flock of agents can be divided into the desired number of subgroups regardless of the subgroup network topology if the algebraic connectivity of the entire flock is maintained. Numerical simulation results are provided to show the feasibility of the proposed formation control.