Title: Fast and In Sync: Periodic Swarm Patterns for Quadrotors,
Abstract: This paper aims to design quadrotor swarm performances, where the swarm acts
as an integrated, coordinated unit embodying moving and deforming objects. We
divide the task of creating a choreography into three basic steps: designing
swarm motion primitives, transitioning between those movements, and
synchronizing the motion of the drones. The result is a flexible framework for
designing choreographies comprised of a wide variety of motions. The motion
primitives can be intuitively designed using few parameters, providing a rich
library for choreography design. Moreover, we combine and adapt existing goal
assignment and trajectory generation algorithms to maximize the smoothness of
the transitions between motion primitives. Finally, we propose a correction
algorithm to compensate for motion delays and synchronize the motion of the
drones to a desired periodic motion pattern. The proposed methodology was
validated experimentally by generating and executing choreographies on a swarm
of 25 quadrotors.