Fully Distributed Dynamic Event-Triggering Formation Control of UAV Swarms under DoS Attacks

Hui Cao, Liang Han, Dongyu Li, Qinglei Hu, Pengkun Hao

Abstract: For large-scale unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms, the security of communication networks is critical. When subjected to cyberattacks, the performance of swarm systems will be significantly affected. This paper focuses on the fully distributed time-varying formation (TVF) control problem of UAV swarms under Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. First, the theoretical framework of the fully distributed dynamic event-triggering TVF control protocol is introduced. Then, sufficient conditions and critical proofs are provided to demonstrate that the desired formation configuration can be achieved under the influence of DoS attacks, and Zeno behavior is eliminated. Finally, the framework of a mixed-reality swarm flight platform is presented, which includes virtual nodes and physical nodes and integrates the advantages of both simulation and physical experiments, enabling large-scale swarm experiments with less cost and higher efficiency. The formation experiment using this platform validates the efficacy of the proposed control protocol.