A unified barrier function-based trajectory tracking control for hovercraft with asymmetric dynamic safety constraints

This paper addresses a trajectory tracking control scheme based on a unified barrier function for hovercraft subject to asymmetric dynamic safety constraints. Firstly, a non-affine model of hovercraft has been built and aims to estimate the lumped disturbance, an extended state observer is utilized. Secondly, for the sake of position constraints, virtual velocity control law is obtained by utilizing a unified barrier function (UBF). Thirdly, a constraint control scheme according to UBF is presented to address asymmetric safety constraint problems of hovercraft. The proposed method can transform the original constrained hovercraft control into an equivalent "non-constrained" one and guarantee the three velocities of hovercraft within asymmetric boundaries with requirements of safe performance during motion respectively. In addition, aims to handle the issue of the virtual control law's differential explosion, and considering that the output torque of the controller should be limited to a certain range, a bioinspired neurodynamic model (BNDM) is adopted. The total system is ultimately uniformly bounded (UUB) via Lyapunov stability theories and the stability lemma of the cascade system. Finally, obtained simulation results prove the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.