UDE-Based Distributed Formation Control for MSVs With Collision Avoidance and Connectivity Preservation

Limited computational resource is one of the features of the embedded system including unmanned marine surface vehicle (MSV). Under this practical constraint, we aim to develop a distributed formation control algorithm for a group of uncertain MSVs, whose computational burden is low. The uncertainty and disturbance estimator (UDE) is employed to compensate for the modeling uncertainties, the unknown environmental disturbances, and the unavailable derivative of the virtual control inputs, such that the formation errors converge asymptotically to zero. Meanwhile, the prescribed performance control technique is applied to ensure that the convergence rates of the formation errors are faster than predefined values. In addition, collision avoidance and connectivity preservation among the neighboring vehicles are guaranteed, while the obstacle avoidance is also ensured. As no parameter update law is required to calculate, the computational burden is reduced significantly. The effectiveness of the proposed UDE-based formation control algorithm is validated through comparative simulation.