Leader-follower fixed-time formation control of unmanned surface vehicles

• Main Authors: LI He, WANG Ning, XUE Haoyuan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Editorial Office of Chinese Journal of Ship Research 2020-04-01
• Series: Zhongguo Jianchuan Yanjiu
• Subjects: unmanned surface vehicle (usv); ship formation; fixed-time formation control; integral sliding mode control; finite-time disturbance observer (fdo); leader-follower
• Online Access: http://html.rhhz.net/ZGJCYJ/html/2020-2-111.htm

Objectives To solve the formation control problem of leader-follower unmanned surface vehicles (USV) under complex environmental disturbances, a fixed-time control (FTC) approach is proposed in this paper.Methods Fixed-time tracking control based on the integral sliding mode (ISM-FTC) approach is designed for the tracking control subsystem, and a finite-time disturbance observer-based fixed-time formation control (FDO-FFC) approach is developed for the formation control subsystem. The overall feasibility of the designed methods is verified via the Lyapunov function. Results The simulation results of a prototype CyberShip II model indicate that the designed scheme can improve the accuracy and robustness of the leader-follower USV formation system.Conclusions The results of this study can provide advanced technical means for USV formation control systems.