Distributed containment maneuvering of uncertain under-actuated unmanned surface vehicles guided by multiple virtual leaders with a formation

This paper is concerned with the distributed containment maneuvering for a fleet of under-actuated unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) guided by multiple virtual leaders moving along multiple parameterized paths with a formation. Each USV is subject to model uncertainties and ocean disturbances caused by wind, waves and ocean currents. Distributed containment maneuvering controllers are constructed for under-actuated USVs based on an auxiliary variable approach, an extended state observer, a linear tracking differentiator, and a path maneuvering design. The proposed controllers drive the vehicle fleet to converge to a convex combination of multiple virtual leaders regardless of the model uncertainties and ocean disturbances. The input-to-state stability of the closed loop system is analyzed via Lyapunov theory and the containment maneuvering errors converge to a small neighborhood of the origin. Simulation results show that the feasibility and efficacy of the proposed distributed containment maneuvering controllers for the under-actuated USVs.