Distributed fast F‐T control for UAV formation in the presence of unknown input disturbances

Abstract

SummaryThis paper addresses the problem of fixed‐time (F‐T) control for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) formation under unknown input disturbances to achieve moving target tracking. First, a kinematic model with uncertainties is employed to analyze the transient response of the UAV formation accurately. Next, based on a fast F‐T lemma, an F‐T disturbance observer is constructed to estimate the unknown disturbances. Subsequently, based on the designed observer and fast F‐T lemma, a distributed F‐T guidance law that controls multi‐UAV to track a moving target in a desired formation is introduced. Then, through rigorous mathematical proof, it is established that the control strategy enables the formation system to achieve F‐T stability, and the convergence time is independent of the system's initial states. Finally, the validity of the proposed control method is demonstrated through numerical simulation and presented in a realistic visual simulation scenario created using Unreal Engine 4 (UE4).