Fully distributed prescribed performance formation control for UAVs with unknown maneuver of leader

Abstract

This paper focuses on the formation control for multiple quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a leader-follower structure. Taking account of the unknown maneuver of the leader and external disturbances, a novel fully distributed prescribed performance formation controller is proposed. Firstly, to obtain a quick convergence rate of errors and desired control precision, a performance function is introduced into a time-varying barrier Lyapunov function (TV-BLF). Then, a distributed adaptive extended state observer (AESO) is constructed to estimate the maneuver of the leader and external disturbances simultaneously. A distributed formation controller is established further based on the TV-BLF and estimations of the AESO. It is proved rigorously that by using the proposed formation controller, the desired formation pattern can be formed while the prescribed performance is guaranteed. Moreover, no global topology information is required in the proposed AESO and controller, which means that the formation can be realized in a fully distributed way. Last, simulations are performed to validate the effectiveness and the superiority of the presented scheme.