Distributed Consensus Control for 6-DOF Fixed-Wing Multi-UAVs in Asynchronously Switching Topologies

Abstract

This paper addresses the consensus control challenge in 6-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) fixed-wing multi-unmanned aerial vehicle (multi-UAV) systems with switching topologies. The primary obstacle in achieving this goal stems from handling asynchronous topology switching induced by topology identification delays during cooperative flight. Effectively mitigating these issues involves implementing an asynchronous switched observer design that incorporates the intrinsic mechanisms of switching topologies and a topology switching law design. In contrast to current state-of-the-art approaches, we introduce a novel piecewise Lyapunov function. Not only does it align with the asynchronous switching characteristic, where the system employs the same controller/observer during the matching interval of the previous topology mode and the non-matching interval of the current topology mode, but it also yields a more lenient topology switching law. This is ensured by guaranteeing that the Lyapunov function continues to decrease in the non-matching interval. Subsequently, we design an adaptive fuzzy fault-tolerant translational/rotational controller, ensuring a minimal consensus tracking error. Comparative simulations are conducted to underscore the superiorities of the proposed strategy.