Number Adaptive Formation Flight Planning via Affine Deformable Guidance in Narrow Environments

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhou, Yuan, Hou, Jialiang, Xu, Guangtong, Gao, Fei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866911171501621248
author Zhou, Yuan
Hou, Jialiang
Xu, Guangtong
Gao, Fei
author_facet Zhou, Yuan
Hou, Jialiang
Xu, Guangtong
Gao, Fei
contents Formation maintenance with varying number of drones in narrow environments hinders the convergence of planning to the desired configurations. To address this challenge, this paper proposes a formation planning method guided by Deformable Virtual Structures (DVS) with continuous spatiotemporal transformation. Firstly, to satisfy swarm safety distance and preserve formation shape filling integrity for irregular formation geometries, we employ Lloyd algorithm for uniform $\underline{PA}$rtitioning and Hungarian algorithm for $\underline{AS}$signment (PAAS) in DVS. Subsequently, a spatiotemporal trajectory involving DVS is planned using primitive-based path search and nonlinear trajectory optimization. The DVS trajectory achieves adaptive transitions with respect to a varying number of drones while ensuring adaptability to narrow environments through affine transformation. Finally, each agent conducts distributed trajectory planning guided by desired spatiotemporal positions within the DVS, while incorporating collision avoidance and dynamic feasibility requirements. Our method enables up to 15\% of swarm numbers to join or leave in cluttered environments while rapidly restoring the desired formation shape in simulation. Compared to cutting-edge formation planning method, we demonstrate rapid formation recovery capacity and environmental adaptability. Real-world experiments validate the effectiveness and resilience of our formation planning method.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_18636
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Number Adaptive Formation Flight Planning via Affine Deformable Guidance in Narrow Environments
Zhou, Yuan
Hou, Jialiang
Xu, Guangtong
Gao, Fei
Robotics
Formation maintenance with varying number of drones in narrow environments hinders the convergence of planning to the desired configurations. To address this challenge, this paper proposes a formation planning method guided by Deformable Virtual Structures (DVS) with continuous spatiotemporal transformation. Firstly, to satisfy swarm safety distance and preserve formation shape filling integrity for irregular formation geometries, we employ Lloyd algorithm for uniform $\underline{PA}$rtitioning and Hungarian algorithm for $\underline{AS}$signment (PAAS) in DVS. Subsequently, a spatiotemporal trajectory involving DVS is planned using primitive-based path search and nonlinear trajectory optimization. The DVS trajectory achieves adaptive transitions with respect to a varying number of drones while ensuring adaptability to narrow environments through affine transformation. Finally, each agent conducts distributed trajectory planning guided by desired spatiotemporal positions within the DVS, while incorporating collision avoidance and dynamic feasibility requirements. Our method enables up to 15\% of swarm numbers to join or leave in cluttered environments while rapidly restoring the desired formation shape in simulation. Compared to cutting-edge formation planning method, we demonstrate rapid formation recovery capacity and environmental adaptability. Real-world experiments validate the effectiveness and resilience of our formation planning method.
title Number Adaptive Formation Flight Planning via Affine Deformable Guidance in Narrow Environments
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.18636