Unmanned Surface Vehicle Using a Leader–Follower Swarm Control Algorithm

Abstract

To overcome the limitations of a single unmanned surface vehicle (USV), this study investigated the swarm control algorithms of USVs. Among various swarm control methods, a leader–follower swarm control method was selected and studied. The performance of the swarm algorithm proposed in this study was verified through an actual sea area test. A USV was designed and manufactured by dividing the power and communication parts. The power system was equipped with a coulometer to monitor the battery state in real time to protect the system through a switch linked to the coulometer in the case of abnormalities in the battery and to prevent accidents. In addition, a communication system was established to process the sensor data and camera image data of the USV in real time. Consequently, the desired swarm formation was achieved through the separately constructed swarm control algorithm. Before the actual sea area test, individual performance tests of each sensor were conducted. Finally, the performance of the swarm algorithm was verified by conducting a sea area test. The performance of the controllers was confirmed to be good, and the swarm formation was confirmed to be successful.