DO-Based Adaptive Consensus Control for Multiple MUAVs With Dynamic Constraints

This article investigates the adaptive consensus control problem for a group of multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles (MUAVs) subject to dynamic state constraints and unmatched external disturbances. An adaptive inner–outer loop controller is devised based on the backstepping method, where the issue of “explosion of complexity” is solved via a first-order sliding-mode differentiator. By introducing a barrier function-based state transformation technique into the outer loop controller design, the dynamic constraints covering different types of time-varying state constraints can be addressed without reconfiguring the controller structure. Meanwhile, a neural-network-based disturbance observer is constructed to estimate the external disturbances. Consequently, the applicability and robustness of controller are improved, such that the position tracking control can be implemented in severe environments. Moreover, the inner loop controller is established by virtue of a distributed sliding-mode estimator so as the consensus control for attitude systems of multiple MUAVs can be realized rapidly. Finally, a simulation example is presented to demonstrate the validity and superiority of the proposed control strategy.