Distributed consensus and formation control of multi-AUV systems under actuator faults and switching topology

This note presents the distributed consensus and formation control for a group of AUVs, comprising one leader and three followers arranged in a diamond formation. The study addresses significant control challenges, including external disturbances, noise, model uncertainties, actuator faults, stochastic switching topologies, time-varying communication delays, and positional information between agents. Stochastic switching topologies are assumed to follow a Markov chain. To effectively address these challenges and ensuring satisfactory performance levels, two control architectures have been formulated to facilitate the imposition of desired trajectories upon the system states. The initial architecture amalgamates sliding mode control methodology with adaptive algorithms, designed explicitly for tracking missions in the presence of fully functional actuators. In response to potential actuator failures, the second control architecture integrates passive fault-tolerant techniques, significantly enhancing system reliability under such circumstances as well as switching topology. The proposed framework demonstrates its effectiveness in managing the high nonlinearity and coupled dynamics of AUVs. Simulation results validate the efficacy of the developed strategy. It successfully establishes a desired consensus and formation among agents, reduces chattering phenomena, accurately tracks reference trajectories, handles disturbances and uncertainties within an unknown domain, and achieves finite-time convergence.