The Inner-Outer Loop-Based Pursuit-Encirclement Formation Control of Multi-USVs
Zhiwei Xia, Xiaofan Wang, Chun Liu, Xiaoqiang Ren · 2023
This study focuses on the pursuit-encirclement for-mation control scheme of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and investigates their potential applications in ocean exploration, research, and conservation. Multiple USVs(multi-USVs) exhibit exceptional versatility in executing tasks within intricate ma-rine environments. While substantial advancements have been achieved in the collaborative operation of multi-USVs over the past decade, pursuit-encirclement tasks continue to pose significant complexity. In view of this, this study proposes a novel inner-outer loop-based pursuit-encirclement formation control algorithm. To begin with, an inner-outer control architecture that comprises two key components: the leader-follower consensus-based outer-loop control and the sliding-mode-based inner-loop control designs are introduced. Then, a three-stage pursuit-encirclement scheme is devised, incorporating leader-follower formation control algorithms for each stage based on position, velocity, and acceleration consensus parameters, thus enabling both a rapid approach and stable encirclement. Finally, simulation results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed pursuit-encirclement formation control algorithm of multi-USVs.