Comparison of Velocity Obstacle and Artificial Potential Field Methods for Collision Avoidance in Swarm Operation of Unmanned Surface Vehicles

As the research concerning unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) intensifies, research on swarm operations is also being actively conducted. A swarm operation imitates the appearance of nature, such as ants, bees, and birds, in forming swarms, moving, and attacking in the search for food. However, several problems are encountered in the USV swarm operation. One of these is the problem of collisions between USVs. A conflict between agents in a swarm can lead to operational failure and property loss. This study attempted to solve this problem. In this study, a virtual matrix approach was applied as a swarm operation. Velocity obstacle (VO) and artificial potential field (APF) methods were used and compared as algorithms for collision avoidance for USVs in a swarm when the formation is changed. For effective collision avoidance, evasive maneuvers should be performed at an appropriate time and location. Therefore, a closest point of approach (CPA)-based method, which considers both temporal and spatial factors, was used. The swarm operation was verified through a large-scale simulation in which 30 USVs changed their formation seven times in 3400 s. When comparing the averages of the distance, error to waypoint, and battery usage, no significant differences were noticed between the VO and APF methods. However, when comparing the cumulative time using the minimum distance, VO was demonstrably safer than APF, and VO completed the formation faster. In conclusion, both the APF and VO methods can evidently perform swarm operations without collisions.