Disturbance resilient payload delivery: sequential control of heterogeneous drones using sliding mode controller

In real-world scenarios, payload delivery often requires drones to handle different tasks such as heavier lifting, better efficiency, or adapting to tough conditions. Homogeneous drones, with identical capabilities, cannot meet these varied demands. This paper presents a methodology for disturbance-resilient payload delivery using heterogeneous drones, coordinated through Distributed Sliding Mode Control (DSMC).The proposed DSMC framework accounts for drone specific dynamics (e.g., mass, thrust, energy constraints) and payload variability, enabling each drone to independently compensate for disturbances like wind gusts while maintaining coordinated motion. The simulation results, which incorporate realistic modeling of communication delays and actuator limits, demonstrate that heterogeneous drones outperform homogeneous drones in trajectory tracking accuracy, disturbance rejection, payload stability, safety distance maintenance, energy efficiency and reduction of failure risk. This study highlights the advantages of using heterogeneous drone systems for robust, efficient, and disturbance-resilient payload delivery in real-world applications.