Quadrotor Formation Strategies Based on Distributed Consensus and Model Predictive Controls

In this study, the distributed consensus control and model predictive control (MPC)-based formation strategies for quadrotors are proposed. First, the formation-control problem is decoupled into horizontal and vertical motions. The distributed consensus control and MPC-based formation strategy are implemented in the follower’s horizontal formation control. In the horizontal motion, the leader tracks the given waypoints by simply using the MPC, and generates the desired formation trajectory for each follower based on its flight information, predicted trajectory, and the given formation pattern. On the other hand, the followers carry out the formation flight based on the proposed horizontal formation strategy and the desired formation trajectories generated by the leader. In the vertical motion, formation control is carried out using only the MPC for both the leader and the follower. Likewise, the leader tracks the desired altitude/climb rate and generates the desired formation trajectories for the followers, and the followers track the desired formation trajectories generated by the leader using the MPC. The optimization problem considered in the MPC differs for the horizontal and vertical motions. The problem is formulated as a quadratic programming (QP) problem for the horizontal motion, and as a linear quadratic tracker (LQT) for the vertical motion. Simulation of a comprehensive maneuver was carried out under a Matlab/Simulink environment to examine the performance of the proposed formation strategies.