Robust formation control of multiple aerial robotic vehicles using near neighbor cyclic deviation with time-varying disturbances.

Cooperative formation flight of multiple aerial robotic vehicles (ARVs) is extensively adopted in emergency rescue and collaborative transport. But the time-varying complex disturbances are inevitable in the cooperative formation flight of multiple ARVs, which can affect the formation stability of multi-ARV systems. This paper investigates the robust formation control problems for multiple ARVs with time-varying disturbances. A novel high-order sliding mode control (HOSMC)-based near neighbor cyclic deviation synchronization control (NNCDSC) scheme for multi-ARV systems is proposed, which can improve the formation control precision and enhance the robustness against time-varying complex disturbances. Firstly, the formation control problem is transformed into the synchronization control problem of multi-ARV systems; a novel NNCDSC strategy is proposed, that can decrease the complexity of the formation control system. Secondly, to better cope with time-varying complex disturbances and improve the formation control accuracy of multi-ARV systems, the HOSMC-based NNCDSC scheme for multi-ARV systems is designed by combining NNCDSC and HOSMC. The finite time stability of the formation control system can be guaranteed by Lyapunov stability theorem, and the desired time-varying or time-invariant formation of multi-ARV systems can also be achieved. Finally, the validity of the theoretical results is verified by several simulation examples and an outdoor experiment.