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arXiv · 2511.19653

Flow-Based Path Planning for Multiple Homogenous UAVs for Outdoor Formation-Flying

Mahmud Suhaimi Ibrahim·Shantanu Rahman·Muhammad Samin Hasan·Minhaj Uddin Ahmad·Abdullah Abrar
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Abstract

Collision-free path planning is the most crucial component in multi-UAV formation-flying (MFF). We use unlabeled homogenous quadcopters (UAVs) to demonstrate the use of a flow network to create complete (inter-UAV) collision-free paths. This procedure has three main parts: 1) Creating a flow network graph from physical GPS coordinates, 2) Finding a path of minimum cost (least distance) using any graph-based path-finding algorithm, and 3) Implementing the Ford-Fulkerson Method to find the paths with the maximum flow (no collision). Simulations of up to 64 UAVs were conducted for various formations, followed by a practical experiment with 3 quadcopters for testing physical plausibility and feasibility. The results of these tests show the efficacy of this method's ability to produce safe, collision-free paths.

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Mahmud Suhaimi Ibrahim, Shantanu Rahman, Muhammad Samin Hasan, Minhaj Uddin Ahmad, Abdullah Abrar. 2025-11-24. Flow-Based Path Planning for Multiple Homogenous UAVs for Outdoor Formation-Flying. https://doi.org/10.1109/icmerr56497.2022.10097797

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