Distributed Fixed‐Time Event‐Triggered Formation Consensus Control for Multiple AUV System Based on RBF Disturbance Observer

ABSTRACT To address the challenges of marine emergency rescue missions, this paper investigates the fixed‐time consensus control problem of the multiple autonomous underwater vehicle systems (MAUVS) subjected to the system uncertainties, the nonlinear external disturbances, and the limited computational resources. First, a novel fixed‐time radial basis function disturbance observer is developed to deal with the lumped disturbances composed of the dynamic uncertainties and the external ocean disturbances. Subsequently, an adaptive fixed‐time event‐triggered distributed control scheme based on command filter backstepping and a compensation mechanism is proposed to achieve the precise control and ensure the formation converge within a fixed time. Furthermore, a novel fixed‐time compensation signal is introduced to address the potential errors from the filter process. Additionally, an event‐triggered mechanism is employed to reduce the number of controller updates and computational consumption while maintaining control performance. Theoretical analysis clearly demonstrates that the Zeno behavior can be excluded, and the MAUVS can complete the formation task within a fixed time. Finally, the effectiveness of the consensus controller is validated through simulations. Furthermore, the applicability of the scheme is verified through the pool experiment.