Two-Level Hierarchical-Interaction-Based Group Formation Control for MAV/UAVs

Cooperative group formation control of manned/unmanned aircraft vehicles (MAV/UAVs) using a hierarchical framework can be more efficient and flexible than centralized control strategies. In this paper, a two-level hierarchical-interaction-based cooperative control strategy is proposed for the MAV/UAVs group formation. At the upper level, combined with the nonlinear disturbance observer (NDO) and dynamic surface control (DSC) algorithm, a trajectory tracking problem with external disturbances for MAV is formulated. At the lower level, the leader-following formation controller is utilized to deal with the sub-formation keeping control problem for UAVs, based on the sliding mode disturbance observer and fast terminal sliding mode control law, and the robust performance and control accuracy are effectively improved. Moreover, the overall stability of the MAV/UAVs system is demonstrated using Lyapunov theory. The proposed approach is evaluated by simulation under the ground penetration combat mission for MAV/UAVs, and the performance is compared with that of other control strategies.