|Table of Contents|

Citation:
　Lei Zhang,Yixin Cheng,Yuxin Zheng,et al.Distributed Adaptive Time-Varying Formation Tracking Regulation Control for USV–UAV Systems[J].Journal of Marine Science and Application,2026,(5):1409-1423.[doi:10.1007/s11804-025-00712-6]
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Distributed Adaptive Time-Varying Formation Tracking Regulation Control for USV–UAV Systems

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Title:
Distributed Adaptive Time-Varying Formation Tracking Regulation Control for USV–UAV Systems
Author(s):
Lei Zhang1; 2;  Yixin Cheng1;  Yuxin Zheng1;  Jiayuan Zhuang1; 2;  Renran Zhang1
Affilations:
Author(s):
Lei Zhang1; 2;  Yixin Cheng1;  Yuxin Zheng1;  Jiayuan Zhuang1; 2;  Renran Zhang1
1 National Key Laboratory of Autonomous Marine Vehicle Technology, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China;
2 Yangtze Delta Region Advanced Research Institute of Harbin Engineering University, Nantong 226000, China
Keywords:
Time-varying formation tracking; Adaptive control; Unmanned surface vessels; Unmanned aerial vehicles; Output regulation
分类号:
-
DOI:
10.1007/s11804-025-00712-6
Abstract:
Cooperative control technology has propelled the development of unmanned surface vessel and unmanned aerial vehicle (USV–UAV) systems. To extend their application potential in complex environments, it is essential to improve the flexibility and robustness of time-varying formation tracking (TFT) control for USV–UAV systems. This article proposes a distributed adaptive TFT control scheme with the output regulation theory, such that all vehicles can realize the expected time-varying formation while tracking multiple leaders. First, a distributed observer is constructed to estimate the global states of all leaders. Subsequently, an adaptive TFT controller is presented for each vehicle based on the output regulation framework and the estimated states of the leaders. Given the external disturbances and unknown nonlinearities, system robustness is effectively enhanced by introducing adaptive parameters and compensation inputs. Additionally, extra formation compensation terms are incorporated into the controller to ensure system adaptability to time-varying formation changes. Finally, theoretical analysis and numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

References:

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Memo

Memo:
Received date:2025-4-6;Accepted date:2025-7-22。<br>Foundation item:Supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2803400).<br>Corresponding author:Yuxin Zheng,E-mail:zhengyuxin@hrbeu.edu.cn
Last Update: 2026-11-04