Behaviour-based Circle Formation Control Simulation for Cooperative UUVs

Formation control of a group of unmanned autonomous vehicles has broad applications and has attracted increasing interests in recent years. In this paper we develop a set of behaviour-based rules for circle formation control of a team of cooperative unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). Fuzzy logic controllers adapt priority weights on these behaviour-based rules online according to the situation that the vehicles meet. The decision of the vehicle's steering direction is made by a combination of these rules multiplied by their relative priority weights. The simulation results for a mission scenario show that the behaviour-based method can achieve circle formation control of a team of UUVs. The effects of changes in the system parameters on the simulation results are discussed.