Constraints for unmanned aerial vehicles formation flight path

The constraints for flight paths of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) formation in form of leader-follower are investigated in this paper. First, in order to keep the formation's spatial pattern stable, a minimum turning radius for leader is derived from the limitation of UAV's velocity. Second, a formation turning controller in follower is designed, which consists of follower's turning angular rate control loop to track the leader's turning angular rate and velocity control loop to keep the certain distance to the leader. Finally, the simulations are implemented on the control system to verify the effect of the path constraints.