[1]CHEN Rujia,DUAN Haibin,WANG Haitian.Prescribed-time fault-tolerant swarm aircraft control using a pigeon-inspired communication topology[J].CAAI Transactions on Intelligent Systems,2026,21(1):245-256.[doi:10.11992/tis.202507008]
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Prescribed-time fault-tolerant swarm aircraft control using a pigeon-inspired communication topology

CAAI Transactions on Intelligent Systems[ISSN 1673-4785/CN 23-1538/TP] Volume: 21 Number of periods: 2026 1 Page number: 245-256 Column: 吴文俊人工智能科学技术奖论坛 Public date: 2026-03-05
Title:
Prescribed-time fault-tolerant swarm aircraft control using a pigeon-inspired communication topology
Author(s):
CHEN Rujia1; 2;  DUAN Haibin1; 2;  WANG Haitian1; 2
1. School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China;
2. National Key Laboratory of Aircraft Integrated Flight Control, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China
Keywords:
aircraft; multi-system; actuator faults; communication faults; hierarchical systems; fault-tolerant control; prescribed-time control; adaptive control
CLC:
TP391
DOI:
10.11992/tis.202507008
Abstract:
This study aims to address the challenges posed by actuator faults and communication node failures in highly contested environments by proposing a method that integrates prescribed-time(PT) fault-tolerant control with a pigeon-inspired multi-layer communication architecture. Based on an aircraft model with three-channel decoupled actuator faults, an adaptive fault-tolerant position control law and its corresponding error update law are developed using the PT convergence theory, achieving PT tracking of predefined strike trajectories under fault constraints. Meanwhile, a pigeon-inspired communication topology is designed to simulate the hierarchical communication mechanism of natural pigeon flocks through a multi-layer undirected node communication architecture. Supporting mechanisms for individual autonomous state sensing and node rotation are also established to enhance the swarm’s robustness in addressing node losses under high communication loads. Numerical simulation results show that the proposed method achieves a high completion rate for swarm combat missions under actuator faults and communication failures, demonstrating its promising feasibility. Compared with traditional centralized and distributed communication architectures, the designed communication architecture exhibits higher robustness and a lower communication load.
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