Implementation of Swarm Social Foraging Behavior in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Quadrotor Swarm

Abstract

One of the novel approaches in multiple quadrotor control is swarm robotics. It aims to mimic social behaviors of animals and insects. This paper presents the physical implementation of the swarm social foraging behavior in unmanned aerial vehicle quadrotors. To achieve this, it first explores the basic behavior of aggregation. It is implemented over a quadrotor swarm test-bed that makes use of external motion capture cameras. The completed algorithm makes use of the artificial potential function model combined with the environment resource profile model. Results show successful demonstration of the social foraging algorithm with minimal error in position. Also, the proposed algorithm’s performance presents an increase in aggregation speed and time as the number of swarm member increases.