Finite-Time Path-Following Control for Unmanned Surface Vessels with Unknown Velocities: A Line-Of-Sight Approach with Command Filter

This paper addresses the path-following control problem of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) under conditions of unknown velocities by proposing a novel finite-time line-of-sight-based path-following control scheme with a command filter (FLOS-PCCF). The proposed approach leverages a finite-time framework to ensure rapid and precise convergence of tracking errors, thereby enabling enhanced path-following performance. The study begins with the formulation of kinematic and dynamic models for the USV, complemented by the development of a finite-time state observer to estimate unmeasured velocity components. Subsequently, a line-of-sight (LOS) guidance law is devised to achieve finite-time convergence of position errors to zero. To mitigate computational complexity, a finite-time control strategy incorporating a command filter is employed, along with a compensation mechanism to address potential filteringinduced errors. Furthermore, unknown dynamics of the system are approximated using radial basis function neural networks (RBFNN), ensuring robustness and adaptability. The efficacy and robustness of the proposed control scheme arevalidated through comprehensive simulation studies, demonstrating its superiorperformance in achieving precise and efficient pathfollowing control.