An adaptive formation path following flight control method for fixed-wing UAV based on dynamic target point

Abstract Aiming at the shortcomings of the current fixed-wing UAV formation path tracking control method, which is complicated in design, poorly adapted to variable curvature paths, and low in accuracy, this paper proposes an adaptive formation path-following flight control method based on dynamic target points. First, based on the leader-follower architecture, this paper designs a generalized lateral control method for fixed-wing UAVs to realize the tracking of dynamic target points. Then, the leader UAV realizes independent path-following by selecting dynamic target points on the path. At the same time, the follower calculates the target points according to the formation parameters and the leader’s state and additionally introduces a target distance control strategy to realize adaptive 2D formation keeping. Finally, mathematical simulations are carried out in this paper for verification. The simulation results show that this method can simultaneously take care of stable formation keeping and accurate path-following for fixed-wing UAV clusters. Compared with the existing methods, it can reduce the design difficulty, significantly improve the accuracy of complex path-following with variable curvature, and has good adaptive characteristics.