Secure Self-Triggered Time-Varying Formation Control for Quadrotor Swarms Against Sequential Multi-Link Scaling Attacks

This paper investigates secure self-triggered time-varying formation control for quadrotor swarm systems against sequential multi-link scaling attacks, which can be implemented in a self-triggered and fully distributed manner. Firstly, based on the outer-loop position and velocity control model of quadrotors, a fully distributed secure time-varying formation control protocol is constructed under sequential multi-link scaling attacks with three characteristics: distributed, sequential, and scalable, and the design criteria for fully distributed secure time-varying formation control are provided. Then, combining the inner and outer-loop control principles of quadrotors, by constructing Euler angle loop controllers and angular velocity controllers, the conversion of the control input of the outer-loop position and velocity to the inner-loop attitude control is achieved, and fully distributed secure time-varying formation control algorithms for quadrotor UAV swarm systems under attacks are proposed. Finally, the effectiveness and applicability of the fully distributed secure consensus method in the formation control of quadrotor UAV swarms is verified through flight experiments using a quadrotor UAV swarm flight test platform. The research results provide a useful reference for the practical application of the fully distributed secure cooperative control theory.