Design and Implementation of a Battery-Aware Leader–Follower UAV Cooperation System

This paper presents a battery-aware leader–follower cooperation system for multi-UAV operations designed to enhance energy efficiency and mission continuity. Implemented in ROS~2, the proposed system dynamically switches leader–follower roles based on the real-time battery status of each UAV. The framework integrates four functional modules: (1) role\_manager for broadcasting roles, (2) leader\_traj\_broadcaster for trajectory sharing, (3) guide\_adapter for trajectory conversion, and (4) battery\_role\_switcher for energy-aware dynamic role transition. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach reduces energy imbalance among UAVs and improves cooperative flight performance under the evaluated scenarios.