Bio-inspired Integrated Networking and Control for Large-Scale Swarm: A Hierarchical Co-design

TL;DR

The paper tackles the challenge of high networking and control overhead in large-scale UAV swarms by introducing BINC, a bio-inspired, two-layer hierarchical co-design that unifies cluster-based routing with formation control. It embeds control information into fused routing messages, constrains clusters to two-hop neighborhoods, and implements a pigeon-like intra-formation and a starling-like inter-formation control to maintain topology and enable obstacle avoidance. The approach is validated on a simulation platform with over 1000 nodes, demonstrating substantial overhead reductions (around 70–85%) and improved maneuverability and robustness, including enhanced obstacle avoidance and faster velocity convergence. The work presents a practical, scalable framework for integrated networking and control in large swarms, with potential impact on real-time coordination and mission efficiency in dense UAV deployments.

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms encounter the challenge of high overhead due to both network management and formation control requirements. In this paper, we propose a Bio-inspired Integrated Networking and Control (BINC) scheme, enabling efficient formation management for swarms comprising thousands of UAVs. The scheme forms a two-layer hierarchical structure, where network clusters and formations share the same groups so that cross-cluster control is eliminated. For networking, we design a fused routing message together with control information to reduce overhead, and limit clusters' size to local two-hop topologies for fast command transmission. For controlling, we develop a hybrid bio-inspired control approach, including a pigeon-like leader-follower algorithm within formations under the consideration of cluster topology maintenance, and a starling-like algorithm among formations that helps to improve the ability of obstacle avoidance. We establish a simulation platform for UAV swarms with over 1000 nodes, and experimental results show that the proposed BINC scheme can achieve highly maneuverable swarm formation marching with significant reduction on communication overhead.

Figures (13)

• Figure 1: Overall framework of the proposed BINC scheme.
• Figure 2: The packet format of HELLO messages.
• Figure 3: The packet format of C-HELLO messages.
• Figure 4: The packet format of CMN messages.
• Figure 5: Neighbor interaction model of pigeon-like formation control.