Journal of Bionic Engineering (2023) 20:782–796 https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-022-00287-w

Distributed Flocking Algorithm for Multi-UAV System Based on Behavior Method and Topological Communication

Yifei Feng1  · Jingshi Dong1  · Jianlin Wang2  · Hang Zhu1

1 Key Laboratory of CNC Equipment Reliability, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130025, China

 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3052, Australia

 AbstractThere are many interesting focking phenomena in nature, such as joint predation and group migration, and the intrinsic communication patterns of focking are essential for studying group behavior. Traditional models of communication such as the pigeon fock model and the wolf pack model defne all agents within a perceptual distance as the neighborhoods, and some models have fxed communicating numbers. There is a signifcant impact on the quality of the focking formation when encountering poor initial state of the focking, multiple obstacles, or loss of certain agents. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a local communication model with nearest agents in four directions. Based on this model and behavioral method, two distributed focking formation algorithms are designed in this paper for diferent scenarios, namely the focking algorithm and the circular formation algorithm. Numerical simulation results show that the focking can pass through the obstacle area and re-formation smoothly, and also the formation quality of the focking is better compared with the traditional communication model.

 Keywords Multi-UAV system · Distributed control · Flocking formation · Topological communication · Bioinspired