Exponential smoothing-based fixed-time path-guided coordinated control of unmanned surface vehicles under communication interruption.

This paper investigates the path-guided coordinated control (PACC) of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) under communication interruption. All USVs follow the single-path-guided control method and only certain USVs have access to the virtual leader. In order to maintain the USVs formation to the maximum extent and avoid individual losses when avoiding the communication shielding area, a fixed-time formation control method based on exponential smoothing prediction is proposed in this paper. Firstly, a sigmoid function based artificial potential field is designed to optimize the kinematics control output of USVs during obstacle avoidance. Secondly, a fixed-time distributed kinematics control law based on Holt-winters exponential smoothing (HWES) prediction is developed to maintain the USVs formation to the maximum extent under communication interruption. Finally, a fixed-time cascade control system is proposed to achieve fast convergence of kinematic and kinetics errors. Numerical simulations and comparisons are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed method. • A sigmoid function based artificial potential function is proposed to ensure USVs avoid obstacles smoothly and avoid kinematic input saturation. • A data-driven predictor based on Holt-winters exponential smoothing is designed to maintain USVs formation under communication interruption. • A fixed-time cascade control system is proposed. In kinematic layer, a fixed-time distributed kinematic control law is developed by combining a fixed-time sideslip angle observer. In kinetic layer, a CONN based fixed-time sliding mode controller is developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]