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Memory Event-triggered Sliding Mode Control for UAV Formation Under Communication Delay and Wake Interferences

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Abstract

This paper studies the formation control for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) under communication delay and wake disturbances, in which the inner-loop and outer-loop control strategy is adopted. Firstly, as for the dynamical models of follower UAVs, the wake interferences are considered and their influences are respectively estimated by using the sliding model disturbance observers (SMDOs). Secondly, since the outer-loop information in the UAVs exchanges via communication network, by adding an internal dynamic variable, an adaptive memory-based event-triggered mechanism (METM) is proposed to alleviate transmission burden with maintaining ideal control performance. Thirdly, by using the designed METM and an intermediate vector, a sliding mode controller is derived to accomplish the desired control target, which can compensate the communication delay in control input. Fourthly, as for the overall closed-loop system, a sufficient condition on asymptotical stability is established and a co-design method of checking the triggering parameters and controller gains is expressed in term of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Moreover, in order to tackle the wake interferences of the inner-loop, an adaptive attitude tracking controller is put forward to ensure the bounded stability of tracking errors by solving the reference signal. Finally, a simulated example is exploited to illustrate the validity of the proposed scheme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Automation Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 211106, China

    Ming-Fei Ji & Tao Li

  2. School of Automation, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China

    Shu-Min Fei

  3. Industrial Center/School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Nanjing Institute of Technology, Nanjing, 211167, China

    Xian-Lin Zhao

Authors
  1. Ming-Fei Ji
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  2. Tao Li
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Correspondence to Tao Li.

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The author of this submission has no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose: no funding was received for conducting this study and the author declares no conflicts of interests nor competing interests.

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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundations of China (Nos. 62073164, 61922042), the Aeronautical Science Foundation of China (No. 2023Z032052001), and the Project of Key Research & Development Plan of Jiangsu Province (No. BE2021016-5).

Ming-Fei Ji received his bachelor’ s degree in engineering from Henan Polytechnic University in 2018 and currently, he is an academic master graduate student at School of Automation Engineering of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China. His research focuses on multi-UAV tracking and formation control.

Tao Li received his Ph.D. degree in engineering from Southeast University in 2008 and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the School of Instrument Science and Engineering of Southeast University during year 2008 and 2011, China. He has been a visiting scholar at Control System Center of The Manchester University from year 2016 to 2017, UK. He is currently a professor at School of Automation Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in China. His current research interests include neural networks, time-delay systems, and networked control systems.

Shu-Min Fei received his Ph.D. degree from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1995, China. From year 1995 to 1997, he carried out his postdoctoral research at Research Institute of Automation of Southeast University, China. Currently, he is a professor and doctoral supervisor at School of Automation of Southeast University in China. He has published more than 100 journal papers and his current research interests include nonlinear systems, time-delay system, and complex systems.

Xian-Lin Zhao received his Ph.D. degree in control theory and control engineering from the Southeast University, Nanjing, China, in 2010. From year 2011 to 2013, he carried out his postdoctoral research at School of Instrument Science and Technology of Southeast University, China. He is currently a Professor with the Industrial Center/School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Nanjing Institute of Technology, 211167. His main research interests include networked control system and Internet of Things with their applications to industrial process.

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Ji, MF., Li, T., Fei, SM. et al. Memory Event-triggered Sliding Mode Control for UAV Formation Under Communication Delay and Wake Interferences. Int. J. Control Autom. Syst. 22, 1021–1035 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-022-0327-x

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