Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO) is a powerful optimisation algorithm that can be used to locate global maxima in a search space. Recent interest in swarms of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) begs the question as to whether PSO can be used as a method to enable real robotic swarms to locate a target goal point. However, the original PSO algorithm does not take into account collisions between particles during search. In this paper we propose a novel algorithm called Force Field Particle Swarm Optimisation (FFPSO) that designates repellent force fields to particles such that these fields provide an additional velocity component into the original PSO equations. We compare the performance of FFPSO with PSO and show that it has the ability to reduce the number of particle collisions during search to 0 whilst also being able to locate a target of interest in a similar amount of time. The scalability of the algorithm is also demonstrated via a set of experiments that considers how the number of crashes and the time taken to find the goal varies according to swarm size. Finally, we demonstrate the algorithms applicability on a swarm of real MAVs.
This work presents a method to build a robust controller for a hose transportation system performed by aerial robots. We provide the system dynamic model, equations and desired equilibrium criteria. Control is obtained through PID controllers tuned by particle swarm optimization (PSO). The control strategy is illustrated for three quadrotors carrying two sections of a hose, but the model can be easily expanded to a bigger number of quadrotors system, due to the approach modularity. Experiments demonstrate the PSO tuning method convergence, which is fast. More than one solution is possible, and control is very robust.  In this paper, a proposed particle swarm optimization called multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) with an accelerated update methodology is employed to tune Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller for an AR.Drone quadrotor. The proposed approach is to modify the velocity formula of the general PSO systems in order for improving the searching efficiency and actual execution time. Three PID control parameters, i.e., the proportional gain Kp, integral gain K; and derivative gain Kd are required to form a parameter vector which is considered as a particle of PSO. To derive the optimal PID parameters for the Ar.Drone, the modified update method is employed to move the positions of all particles in the population. In the meanwhile, multi-objective functions defined for PID controller optimization problems are minimized. The results verify that the proposed MOPSO is able to perform appropriately in Ar.Drone control system. Aiming at solving the problems of unsatisfactory routes planning that are suboptimal to optimal routes planning and dissatisfactory real time routes planning and routes planning of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) cooperation, a cost function of multiple UAVs routes planning is presented after modeling the primary factors influencing on multiple UAVs route planning. Then, Based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, this paper presents the approaches of static three-dimensional routes planning and dynamic three-dimensional routes planning for multiple UAVs cooperation. The approaches can also be used to plan a single UAV route. Using these approaches, an emluator is designed and some experiments are made, and the results demonstrate that the approaches can satisfy the requests of the multiple UAVs routes planning. The initial state of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system and the relative state of the system, the continuous inputs of each flight unit are piecewise linear by a Control Parameterization and Time Discretization (CPTD) method. The approximation piecewise linearization control inputs are used to substitute for the continuous inputs. In this way, the multi-UAV formation reconfiguration problem can be formulated as an optimal control problem with dynamical and algebraic constraints. With strict constraints and mutual interference, the multi-UAV formation reconfiguration in 3-D space is a complicated problem. The recent boom of bio-inspired algorithms has attracted many researchers to the field of applying such intelligent approaches to complicated optimization problems in multi-UAVs. In this paper, a Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization and Genetic Algorithm (HPSOGA) is proposed to solve the multi-UAV formation reconfiguration problem, which is modeled as a parameter optimization problem. This new approach combines the advantages of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA), which can find the time-optimal solutions simultaneously. The proposed HPSOGA will also be compared with basic PSO algorithm and the series of experimental results will show that our HPSOGA outperforms PSO in solving multi-UAV formation reconfiguration problem under complicated environments.