Sampled-data flocking with application to unmanned rotorcraft

We present experiments demonstrating a discrete-time flocking control algorithm using a group of three rotorcraft. We use a motion-capture system to sense each rotorcraft’s position. In addition, we use a centralized computer to calculate each rotorcraft’s control and transmit the control to the rotorcraft. The centralized computer is not required for the discrete-time flocking algorithm but is used to simplify implementation. These experiments show that the rotorcraft tend to a flocking configuration independent of whether a virtual leader is present or not. Furthermore, these experiments show that the rotorcraft approximately follow the leader (if applicable).