Learning-Based Multi-UAV Flocking Control With Limited Visual Field and Instinctive Repulsion

This article explores deep reinforcement learning (DRL) for the flocking control of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms. The flocking control policy is trained using a centralized-learning-decentralized-execution (CTDE) paradigm, where a centralized critic network augmented with additional information about the entire UAV swarm is utilized...

A Fixed-Wing UAV Formation Algorithm Based on Vector Field Guidance

The vector field method was originally proposed to guide a single fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) towards a desired path. In this work, a non-uniform vector field method is proposed that changes in both magnitude and direction, for the purpose of achieving formations of UAVs. As compared to related work in the literature, the...

Open Gimbal: A 3 Degrees of Freedom Open Source Sensing and Testing Platform for Nano and Micro UAVs

Testing the aerodynamics of micro-UAVs (mUAVs) and nano-UAVs (nUAVs) without actually flying is highly challenging. To address this issue, we introduce Open Gimbal, a specially designed 3 degrees of freedom (DoF) platform that caters to the unique requirements of mUAVs and nUAVs. This platform allows for unrestricted and free rotational...

Adaptive Vector Field Guidance Without a Priori Knowledge of Course Dynamics and Wind

The high maneuverability of fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) exposes these systems to several dynamical and parametric uncertainties, severely affecting the fidelity of modeling and causing limited guidance autonomy. This article shows enhanced autonomy via adaptation mechanisms embedded in the guidance law: a vector-field method is...

An Underactuated Control System Design for Adaptive Autopilot of Fixed-Wing Drones

Effective design of autopilots for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is still a great challenge, due to unmodeled effects and uncertainties that these vehicles exhibit during flight. Unmodeled effects and uncertainties comprise longitudinal/lateral cross-couplings, as well as poor knowledge of equilibrium points (trimming points) of...