Fixed-Time Bearing-Only Formation Control Without a Global Coordinate Frame
Hanqiao Huang, Mengwen Lu, Bo Zhang, Qian Wang · Electronics · 2025
This work addresses distributed fixed-time bearing-only formation stabilization for multi-agent systems lacking shared orientation knowledge. Addressing the challenge of missing global coordinate alignment in multi-agent systems, this work introduces a novel distributed estimator ensuring almost globally fixed-time convergence of orientation estimates. Leveraging this estimator, we develop a distributed bearing-only formation control law specifically designed for agents governed by double-integrator dynamics, guaranteeing fixed-time convergence. Comprehensive stability analysis proves the almost global fixed-time stability of the overall closed-loop system. Crucially, the proposed control strategy drives actual formation to achieve the desired geometric pattern with almost global exponential convergence within a fixed time bound. Rigorous numerical experiments corroborate the theoretical framework.