Path Planning for Dense Drone Formation Based on Modified Artificial Potential Fields
Hang Sun, Juntong Qi, Chong Wu, Mingming Wang
Abstract
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) formation can accomplish complex and challenging tasks more efficiently. Path planning is one of the key issues to achieve formation flight. According to the drone light show, an artificial potential field (APF)-based path planning algorithm for dense drone formation method was proposed to realize the path planning of multiple drones and multiple targets in three-dimensional space. The problem of path oscillation was solved by improving the repulsive force model. By adding the target exchange algorithm, the problem that the individual cannot reach the target when being stuck in the local optimal solution was solved. The drone's path was improved following the performance by adding constraints. Finally, the dense formation transformation of 500 drones at 2.5m spacing was achieved and actual flight experiments were carried out. The path planning method studied in this paper can be widely used in a variety of military and civil multi rotors or helicopter clusters, which has a very high practical value.