Precise Mission Process Control Based on a Novel Dual-Code Group Network Plan Diagram

• Published in: Applied sciences Vol. 14; no. 13; p. 5632
• Main Authors: Wu, Ao, Xie, Xiaowei, Song, Qi, Wang, Ying, Li, Huanyu, Yang, Rennong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.07.2024
• Subjects: Airline scheduling; Automation; Critical path; feedback control; Feedback control systems; Gantt charts; large group mission; Linear programming; mission process control; network plan diagram; plan representation; Process controls; Production planning; Real time
• ISSN: 2076-3417; 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app14135632

Different from an ordinary project, a large group mission like the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm cooperative strike mission is performed by multiple executors and needs to be strictly carried out according to the plan. Because of the complex cooperative relationships between the sub-missions that make up a large mission, a small disturbance may cause a delay in the entire plan. Therefore, the mission process must be precisely controlled in real time to resist disturbances and ensure that the mission proceeds as planned. To address the real-time process control problem of large group missions, we propose a novel dual-code group network plan diagram model that enables plan description and process tracking for complex group missions. Additionally, a mission process closed-loop feedback control system is designed that models the mission process control problem as a mapping from the mission state observation to plan adjustment. Furthermore, an analytic-based mission process control strategy is proposed and rigorously proven to converge and be effective, as well as demonstrate the maximum anti-disturbance capability. Finally, the control strategy is tested on a UAV swarm cooperative strike mission containing 56 sub-missions. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed control strategy is capable of achieving high, fast, and accurate control for the mission process and enhancing the anti-disturbance capability of the plan by adjusting the mission plan in real time. This will provide a valuable reference for the management of large group missions.