A Novel Method of Time-Varying Formation Control Based on a Directed Graph for Multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Abstract

Currently, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are facing various challenges, rendering multiple-AUV (multi-AUV) formation control a pivotal research direction. The issues surrounding formation control for a multi-AUV system to establish time-varying formations must be investigated. This paper discusses the formation protocol of multi-AUV systems in order to establish the defined time-varying formations. First, when these systems establish formations, the speed of each AUV can be equivalent. After that, consensus-based methods are used to solve the time-varying formation-control problem. The necessary and sufficient process of multi-AUV in achieving time-varying formations is proved. Furthermore, the formula for the time-varying formation center function is provided. Further, we present a protocol law for multi-AUVs to establish time-varying formations. Finally, the theoretical results of a simulation are presented, which validate the formation protocol.

Keywords

• autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)
• formation control
• multiple agents system
• time-varying formation