Distributed Robust Synchronization Control of Multiple Heterogeneous Quadcopters with An Active Virtual Leader*

This paper studies leader-following synchronization control of a group of multiple quadrotor unmanned aerial systems (UASs). A robust distributed scheme is developed to maintain the attitude motions of UASs with an active virtual leader. Complicated settings are considered in the design, where the topology is in a directed graph, and only one or some agents are connected to the leader. UASs can have different dynamic parameters. Also, some time-varying disturbances are added to the closed-loop system. A control protocol containing a robust term is proposed to each UAS to achieve asymptotic consensus. A rigorous mathematical proof and numerical example are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of our scheme