Swarm Trajectory Planning Using Dynamic Corridors for Dead Zone Avoidance

Efficient obstacle avoidance in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) formations remains a significant challenge, particularly within dynamic and cluttered environments. While substantial advancements have been made in existing methods for formation control and obstacle avoidance, they frequently encounter constraints when segments of the UAV swarm become trapped in dead zones, which significantly degrade overall operational performance. To mitigate this issue, we propose a novel approach aimed at enhancing the swarm’s resilience by enabling UAVs to detect and proactively avoid potential dead zones. The proposed method constructs dynamic flight corridors by inflating the global trajectories of individual UAVs and systematically assessing their deviation from the primary formation path. This framework facilitates the early detection of potential dead zones, ensuring the swarm maintains both a safe and cohesive flight configuration. Extensive simulations across diverse environmental settings demonstrate the robustness and generalizability of the proposed method, underscoring its effectiveness in improving both formation stability and obstacle avoidance capabilities.