Behavior-based Genetic Fuzzy Control System for Multiple USVs Cooperative Target Protection

In this paper, the intelligent cooperative control problem of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) is investigated. We consider a team of USVs used in the protection of a target against potential threats. The task of the USVs is to cooperatively protect the target from being destroyed. A behavior-based fuzzy logic control system is presented to solve the problem. First, we identify two types of behaviors; low and high level behaviors. High level behaviors act as a mechanism to induced coordination and synchronization among USVs. Based on this, four high level behaviors (behavior integrator, intercept, formation and assist behaviors), each implementing a fuzzy inference system and two low level behaviors(collision avoidance and attack behaviors) are proposed. The paper defines behavior-based rules to meet the requirement of a simple operational scenario. Genetic algorithms is used to learn the rule base and the choice of behavior. Simulation results demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach. Results shows that the approach has potential application for a real team of cooperative USVs.