Autonomous Multi-Drone Formation Flight

Overview

I'm building software that lets three drones fly together in formation without a pilot. The interesting part is what happens when something goes wrong: if one drone drops out mid-flight, the other two notice, rearrange into a new formation, and finish the mission instead of giving up.

How it works

Each drone runs PX4, an open-source autopilot that handles the low-level flying. My Python code sits on top and talks to every drone over MAVLink, the standard language drones use to send and receive commands. The code is split into four parts:

Mission manager

Holds the flight plan and tells the group what to do next.

Fleet manager

Keeps track of which drones are flying and where each one is.

Formation controller

Keeps the drones at the right spacing and moves them as a group.

Failure detector

Notices when a drone stops responding, and triggers the regroup.

The test mission

1. Take off together
2. Form up and hold formation
3. Fly forward as a group
4. Turn as a group
5. One drone drops out
6. The remaining two regroup
7. Land

How I'm testing it

• The whole mission runs in simulation first, using PX4's software-in-the-loop mode: the real autopilot code running on a computer, flying a virtual drone. Hardware comes after.
• Every change is checked against three numbers: how far the drones drift from their set spacing, how long it takes to notice a lost drone, and how long the group takes to regroup.

Tools