Modular Adaptive Control for LOS-Based Cooperative Path Maneuvering of Multiple Underactuated Autonomous Surface Vehicles

This paper is concerned with the cooperative path maneuvering of multiple underactuated autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) moving along a parameterized path. Each vehicle is subject to uncertain kinematics and unknown kinetics induced by model uncertainty and ocean disturbances. A modular adaptive control method is presented to develop the cooperative controller such that a queue formation along the parameterized path can be achieved. First, two identification modules are developed such that the uncertain kinematics and unknown kinetics can be estimated by an adaptive term and echo state networks, respectively. Next, a cooperative path maneuvering controller module is designed based on a line-of-sight guidance scheme, tracking differentiators, and a path variable containment approach. The path variable containment approach is used to guarantee that the ASVs are evenly spaced between two virtual leaders moving along the path. Finally, the stability of the identification-controller pair is analyzed. Comparative studies are performed to validate the efficiency of the proposed method.