Distributed Finite-Time ESO-Based Consensus Control for Multiple Fixed-Wing UAVs Subjected to External Disturbances

Abstract

This paper puts forward a coordinated formation control scheme for multiple fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems with external nonlinear disturbances including not only the drag force and uncertain lateral force, but also the drag, lift, and lateral forces caused by wake vortices. A novel distributed finite-time extended state observer is designed to estimate both the unmeasurable states and uncertain external nonlinear disturbances of each fixed-wing UAV. In particular, an event-triggered mechanism is employed to reduce the burden of communication networks among multiple fixed-wing UAVs. Meanwhile, an inter-trigger output predictor, replacing the classic zero-order holder, is adopted to obtain cooperative errors between two consecutive triggering moments. Furthermore, a composite distributed controller is proposed to mitigate uncertain disturbances, enabling the coordinated formation flying of multiple fixed-wing UAVs.Finally, two illustrative simulation scenarios are discussed to verify the performance of the presented coordinated formation control scheme.

Keywords

• finite-time distributed extended state observer
• inter-trigger output predictor
• external disturbances
• cooperative formation
• UAVs