Air-ground Cooperative UAV Formation Control Algorithm Design and Simulation for Communications

With the continuous enrichment of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) application scenarios, in recent years, the use of UAV formation to achieve air-ground coordination tasks is increasing. According to the current formation systems and control methods, an air-ground collaborative UAV formation control algorithm based on behavior strategy is designed: by introducing the idea of air-ground collaboration, it provides relay communication services for ground moving users and expands the communication coverage of UAV formations. Four UAV formations are designed for the formation of seven UAVs, the corresponding unit center position standards are derived, and the air-ground collaborative UAV formation control algorithm is simulated by the Unity software. The turning performance of the UAV formation using the algorithm is tested in the ideal environment and the obstacle avoidance, relay communication and formation change capabilities are tested in the simulated actual environment. Based on the proposed air-ground cooperative algorithm, two mission schemes are designed: the main mission scheme of regional search coverage, user lost contact search and rescue crash plan. Theoretical analysis and experimental simulation show that the algorithm and three schemes are feasible.