ABSTRACT

As autonomous vehicles, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) face many challenges. One of
the challenges for UAVs is to be able to avoid collisions. We have seen a number of collision
avoidance methods proposed to address collision avoidance. In addition, in a multi-UAV
system, it is also important to deal with communication issues among the UAVs for
cooperation and collaboration. An ad-hoc network can be setup among the UAVs to resolve
these issues. We need to acknowledge the challenges in UAV deployments as well as in
developing collision avoidance methods, and enabling the communication for cooperation
and collaboration in a multi-UAV system.
In this paper, we present general challenges in UAV deployment and a comparison of UAV
communication services based on operating frequency. We will present major collision
avoidance methods, and more specifically, collision avoidance methods for indoor
applications. In this work, we described a real-time collision avoidance algorithm for
autonomous navigation in building environments and in the presence of fixed and moving
obstacles. The current work is a real-time implementation of an autonomous navigation
between waypoints of a predefined flight trajectory that is to be performed by a UAV during
tasks such as reconnaissance patterns and delivery missions.

v
INTERNSHIP COMPLETION CERTIFICATE

vi
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE ........................................................................................................................................... ii
DECLARATION........................................................................................................................................ iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ......................................................................................................................... iv
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. v
INTERNSHIP COMPLETION CERTIFICATE ................................................................................... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..vii

LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................... ix

CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................................ 1
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1
CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................................ 3
COMPANY/ORGANIZATION PROFILE .................................................................................................. 3
2.1 Organizational Structure ....................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Services or Products offered ................................................................................................. 4
2.3 Details Relevant to the Internship ......................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................................................ 6
OBJECTIVES OF THE INTERNSHIP ........................................................................................................ 6
CHAPTER 4 ................................................................................................................................................ 7
INTERNSHIP ACTIVITIES AND TASKS PERFORMED ........................................................................ 7
3.1 Uavs Collision Avoidance Approaches .............................................................................................. 7
3.1.1 Geometric Approach .................................................................................................................................... 7
3.1.2 Potential Field Approach .............................................................................................................................. 8
3.1.3 Path Planning Approach ............................................................................................................................... 9
3.1.4 Vision-Based Approach ............................................................................................................................... 9
3.2 Drag And Power Consumption Of Different Formations .................................................................. 10
3.2.1 Column Formation ...................................................................................................................................... 10
3.2.2 Front Formation ......................................................................................................................................... 10
3.2.3 Echelon Formation ..................................................................................................................................... 10
3.2.4 Vee Formation ........................................................................................................................................... 11
3.2.5 Diamond Formation ................................................................................................................................... 11
3.3 Formation Flight Controllers Classes ............................................................................................... 11
3.3.1 Centralized Controller ................................................................................................................................ 12
3.3.2 Decentralized Controller ............................................................................................................................ 13
3.3.4 Hierarchial Controller ................................................................................................................................. 14
vii
 3.4 Formation Control Structures............................................................................................................ 14
CHAPTER 4 .............................................................................................................................................. 16
LEARNING OUTCOMES ......................................................................................................................... 16
CHAPTER 5 .............................................................................................................................................. 17
IMPACT OF INTERNSHIP ....................................................................................................................... 17
CHAPTER 6 .............................................................................................................................................. 18
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................... 18
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 19

viii
 LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. No. Fig. Caption Page No.

Figure 4.1 Collision cone Approach. 8

Different flight formations for a swarm of
Figure 4.2 drones
11

Figure 4.3 Centralized Controller Scenario 12

Figure 4.4 Decentralized Controller Scenario 13

ix
x
Formation Flights of UAV’S

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is an emerging technology that has military, public, and
civil acceptance as a new technology. The military has been using UAVs for more than 25
years primarily for border surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike. As UAVs have
continuously evolved over the past two decades, civilian applications employment has gained
substantial interest; its decisively growing role should grow quickly in the near future as
UAVs have many suitable applications. Recently, there have been academic and applied
research examining the employment of UAVs in many applications, including: public safety,
search and rescue, emergency communications, unexpected events, transportation
management, remote sensing, scientific data collection, industrial inspections, delivery of
goods, and precision agriculture. Moreover, UAVs can offer wireless coverage for ground
users also without using infrastructure communication systems as we can use UAVs as an
aerial base station.
The fundamental principles of autonomous vehicles contain collision avoidance. The authors
introduced a collision avoidance system in terms of sensing and detection, collision avoidance
methods and various other different types including categories of collision avoidance
methods: geometric, optimized trajectory or path planning, bearing angle based method
(vision based) and force field. In general, formation flight of unmanned aerial vehicles has
seen a rapid increase in interest over the past two decades, especially in the case of small-
scale unmanned aerial vehicles. Single small scale UAVs are being used for civilian
applications in today’s market. Many companies for a variety of applications including
pipeline and flare inspections of oil and gas companies, power and utility companies for
power line inspections, aerial photography and surveillance, agriculture, small cargo etc. The
list of current applications and potential applications could go on and on. A formation of small
scale UAVs would also open the doors for the extension and enhancement of current
applications and help overcome limited capabilities that single UAVs have. For instance,
researchers around the world are currently exploring ways to optimize the formation flight of
various types of small scale.

Dept. of AE, DSCE AY 2024-25 1

Formation Flights of UAV’S

With a tethering power system, a drone can fly for days, letting you utilize them as a semi-
permanent safety system. UAVs are already utilized to track construction progress indoors
and outdoors, where an UAV is used to monitor foundation pit construction for safety and
analysis with a camera. Furthermore, UAVs are utilized for construction progress monitoring
with LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors to create a point cloud to track process
construction. Similar to, a method was developed where the point cloud data was utilized with
a BIM model to automate the process monitoring and reporting.
The path planner is used to specify a path for the formation to travel. The formation flight
controller defines how the formation is structured and which UAVs are in which nominal
position of the formation. The collision avoidance system protects against collisions between
UAV's or collisions with any other object in the operational environment. The robust fault
tolerant control system guarantees that there will not be a loss of control of the formation in
the event that one of the components of the formation flight system fails. This chapter provides
a discussion of the components needed to create a successful and stable formation flight, but
it is also intended to highlight the recent published work being conducted by academics around
the world regarding the development of formation flight controllers for smaller UAVs.

Dept. of AE, DSCE AY 2024-25 2

Formation Flights of UAV’S

CHAPTER 2

COMPANY/ORGANIZATION PROFILE
Full Name: Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE)

Parent Organization: Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO)

Type: Government Research and Development Organization

Ministry: Operates under the Ministry of Defence, Government of India

ADE is a premier research laboratory of DRDO, focusing on aeronautical system development

with a specialization in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and flight control systems.

Headquarters and Branch Locations

• Headquarters:
Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE)
DRDO Complex, C.V. Raman Nagar,
Bengaluru – 560093, Karnataka, India
• Branch Locations:
While ADE is primarily based in Bengaluru, it collaborates extensively with other DRDO
labs across India, such as:
o GTRE (Gas Turbine Research Establishment) – Bengaluru
o ADA (Aeronautical Development Agency) – Bengaluru
o ARDE (Armament Research and Development Establishment) – Pune
o RCI (Research Centre Ima rat) – Hyderabad

These partner labs contribute complementary capabilities such as propulsion, design, weapon
integration, and testing support.

2.1 Organizational Structure

ADE operates under the hierarchical framework of DRDO and is headed by a director, who

Dept. of AE, DSCE AY 2024-25 3

Formation Flights of UAV’S

reports to the Director General of the Aeronautics Cluster within DRDO. The organizational
structure includes:

• Director – Overall head of ADE

• Associate Directors/Project Directors – Lead major projects (e.g., Rustom-II, Abhyas)

• Division Heads – Oversee departments such as Flight Control, Aerodynamics, Avionics,

Simulation, Systems Integration, etc.

• Scientific Officers – Engage in core R&D activities

• Technical Officers & Engineers – Assist in project execution and support functions

• Interns and Research Fellows – Support innovation, documentation, testing, and

modelling

2.2 Services or Products offered

ADE is renowned for several key UAV and aeronautical projects, including:

• Nishant – Tactical UAV for intelligence gathering

• Rustom-I and Rustom-II (TAPAS-BH-201) – Long-endurance UAVs for surveillance.

• Abhyas – High-speed expendable aerial target used for testing defence systems.

• Flight Control Systems (FCS) – Autonomous and semi-autonomous control solutions.

• Ground Control Stations (GCS) – Systems for UAV command and monitoring.

• Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation (HILS) – Real-time testing environments.

• Autonomous Landing Technologies – For UAV and aircraft recovery.

2.3 Details Relevant to the Internship

Interns at ADE gain first-hand exposure to aeronautical and defence R&D environments.
The internship experience typically includes:

• Technical Learning: Exposure to advanced simulation tools like MATLAB, Simulink,

Dept. of AE, DSCE AY 2024-25 4

Formation Flights of UAV’S

and LabVIEW for control and modelling tasks.

• Project Involvement: Participation in ongoing UAV projects like Rustom or Abhyas

under the supervision of DRDO scientists.

• Data Handling: Collection, analysis, and interpretation of flight or simulation data.

• Design and Development: Involvement in system design, component integration, and

software-hardware interfacing.

• Documentation and Presentation: Preparing reports, technical documentation, and

presentations on findings or improvements.

• Skill Enhancement: Gaining experience in aerodynamics, avionics, embedded systems,

and flight mechanics.

This internship is highly valuable for students in aerospace, electronics, computer science,
mechanical, or related engineering fields, offering a unique opportunity to contribute to
India’s strategic and defence capabilities.

Dept. of AE, DSCE AY 2024-25 5

Formation Flights of UAV’S

CHAPTER 3

OBJECTIVES OF THE INTERNSHIP

➢ To study and compare various collision avoidance approaches in Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAVs), including geometric, path planning, potential field, and vision-
based methods.

➢ To analyse the aerodynamic efficiency and power consumption of different UAV

formations such as Column, Front, Echelon, Vee, and Diamond using simulation
tools.
➢ To implement and validate a real-time collision avoidance algorithm for UAVs
operating in structured environments using point cloud data and 3D sensors.

➢ To evaluate the effectiveness of UAV formation flights in real-world applications,

particularly in civil engineering tasks such as construction monitoring, safety
inspections, and progress tracking.

Dept. of AE, DSCE AY 2024-25 6

Formation Flights of UAV’S

CHAPTER 6
IMPACT OF INTERNSHIP

➢ Enhanced Technical Knowledge: Gained in-depth understanding of UAV systems,

formation flight principles, collision avoidance techniques, and control structures.
➢ Theoretical Foundation Strengthened: Studied and compared various collision
avoidance methods (geometric, potential field, path planning, and vision-based),
improving conceptual clarity in autonomous navigation.
➢ Controller Design Insights: Explored the differences between centralized,
decentralized, and hierarchical controllers, and understood their pros, cons, and
practical implementation challenges.
➢ Formation Strategy Analysis: Assessed the effects of various flight formations
(column, echelon, vee, diamond) on aerodynamic efficiency and energy usage.
➢ Real-World Relevance: Understood the growing role of UAVs in civil and industrial
applications such as construction monitoring, search and rescue, and infrastructure
inspection.
➢ Research-Oriented Thinking: Developed an appreciation for ongoing academic and
industrial research in UAV coordination and swarm behavior.

Dept. of AE, DSCE AY 2024-25 17

Formation Flights of UAV’S

CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSION
The formation flight of small-scale UAVs is still a recent and trending topic. It can be clearly
seen that there are still multiple configurations of formations that are yet to be developed and
tested. As it stands, formation flight experiments being conducted today
are mainly focused on rotary UAVs. This is due to their high manoeuvrability which gives
them the ability to easily undergo tests in constricted indoor environments. There is decent
amount of literature on the formation flight of fixed wing UAVs, this is mainly down to their
practicality and the work of large scaled fixed wings being scaled down for the smaller models.
Blimps on the other hand are not common due to the limited range of applications they could
be utilized in. Flapping wing UAVs possess the most promising potential in terms of
performance.
They theoretically possess superior manoeuvrability to the rotary based UAVs, and a higher
efficiency than the fixed wing ones. However, the manufacturing process of flapping wing
UAVs is still under development, which means it will be a while before we see them
performing anywhere near their potential in formation flights. As can be seen from the
summarized papers, researchers are doing a great job at tackling formation flight problems
under controlled environments. However, the main difficulty in designing formation flight
controllers for the real practical world is the number of factors that have to be considered when
doing so.

When a formation of UAVs is performing a mission, it is ideally supposed to be able to plan

the path/trajectory of the formation, execute a robust control system to follow it, account for
threats in the surrounding environment, account for failures, and perform mission objectives.
All these factors take their toll on the processors and communication mediums, this is the
reason decentralized and hierarchical controllers are more common than centralized ones as
evidenced in. Researchers are currently focusing on finding efficient solutions to all these
problems mainly through trading off optimization with lower computations and bandwidth.

Dept. of AE, DSCE AY 2024-25 18

Formation Flights of UAV’S

REFERENCES

[1]. “AN OVERVIEW OF COLLISION AVOIDANCE APPROACHES AND NETWORK

ARCHITECTURE OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES” Ahmad H. Sawalmeh,
Noor Shamsiah Othman Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering,
University Tenaga Nasional, Selangor, Malaysia.
[2]. “FORMATION FLIGHTS OF SMALL-SCALE UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES”:
A Review Mohammad Hejase National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hassan
Noura Aix-Marseille University, Ahmad Drak Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of
Applied Sciences.
[3]. “FORMATION BASED SELECTION OF DRONE SWARM SERVICES” Balsam
Alkouz & Athman Bouguettaya the University of Sydney Australia.
[4]. “SAFETY OF COOPERATIVE COLLISION AVOIDANCE FOR UNMANNED
AIRCRAFT” andrew d. zeitlin, mitre corp./caasd, mclean va michael p. mclaughlin, corp.

Dept. of AE, DSCE AY 2024-25 19