Formation flying control via elliptical virtual structure

This paper describes a guidance law for the formation flight of a flock of autonomous vehicles. The formation is defined by a virtual geometrical structure - here, an ellipse that can modify its shape and orientation to avoid collision with obstacles of the environment. The proposed guidance law is divided into two layers, with a model predictive control scheme at each level. The higher layer controls the structure itself to fulfill the goals and constraints of the required mission. The trajectory of the fleet is built on-line thanks to this layer, as well as the adaptation of the structure to the environment. The lower layer controls the vehicles, so as to attract and keep them inside the structure without side collision. Simulation results illustrate the interest of the approach to guide a fleet of vehicles towards a target while avoiding obstacles.