Collision-Free Continuum Deformation Coordination of a Multi-Quadcopter System Using Cooperative Localization

This paper integrates cooperative localization with continuum deformation coordination of a multi-quadcopter system (MQS) to assure safety and optimality of the quadcopter team coordination in the presence of position uncertainty. We first consider the MQS as a finite number of particles of a deformable triangle in a 3-D motion space and define their continuum deformation coordination as a leader-follower problem in which leader quadcopters can estimate (know) their positions but follower quadcopters rely on relative position measurements to localize themselves and estimate the leaders' positions. We then propose a navigation strategy for the MQS to plan and acquire the desired continuum deformation coordination, in the presence of measurement noise, disturbance, and position uncertainties, such that collision is avoided and rotor angular speeds of all quadcopters remain bounded. We show the efficacy of the proposed strategy by simulating the continuum deformation coordination of an MQS with eight quadcopters.