A collision avoidance algorithm based on the virtual target approach for cooperative unmanned surface vehicles

This paper presents a collision avoidance algorithm based on the virtual target path-following guidance technique, developed for Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) multiagent frameworks. The proposed collision avoidance procedure is integrated with the distributed guidance module already developed for cooperative and coordinated navigation of USVs, in particular with Cooperative Path Following and Wingman-based coordination scheme. A basic integration of the collision avoidance system with the COLREGS 'Rules of the Road' is proposed too. Results of the overall collision free cooperative system are then presented.