Comprehensive Safety System Design and Development for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Formation Flight System

With Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs) becoming more popular, safety and robustness considerations turn out to be the most important matter for autonomous flight of UAVs. In this paper, a comprehensive approach on the implementation of safety features for multiple UAVs during outdoor formation flight is proposed. A hierarchical three layer safety architecture is designed based on the risk assessment matrix which categorizes each flight failure condition based on the severity and probability of each case. Moreover, safety exit routes and a return procedure for multiple UAVs are implemented to prevent them from mid-air collision while flying out of their flight zone and to ensure their safe return to their launch location. The safety system is implemented on sixteen UAVs formation flight demonstration and all the safety precautions are verified in extensive flight tests.