DefinePK

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms have gained increasing attention in both military and civilian applications, particularly for their potential to perform complex tasks with high autonomy and robustness. However, ensuring stable formation when communication links fail or topologies change dynamically remains a key challenge. This work proposes an alliance-based formation control approach in which the swarm is divided into flexible subgroups, each containing a minimal number of UAVs that directly receive leader information. A consensus-based control law coordinates the UAVs within and across these alliances, while a feedback mechanism allows selected UAVs to modulate the leader’s dynamics if formation errors grow. Simulations confirm the method’s robust convergence and efficient self-repair under partial communication loss, showing that limiting direct leader communications reduces overhead without compromising stability. This alliance-based approach thus provides an effective, scalable, and fault-tolerant solution for UAV swarm deployments in demanding environments.