Fixed-Time Disturbance Observer-Based Distributed Formation Control for Multiple QUAVs

In this brief, the problem of fixed-time distributed formation control for multiple quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (QUAVs) suffering from external disturbances is investigated. Resorting to the fixed-time disturbance observer (FTDO), the unknown disturbances are accurately estimated without requiring the information of initial observer errors. Based on the fusion of command filter technique, nonsmooth error compensation mechanism and backstepping design method, the proposed singularity-free distributed formation controllers ensure that the whole closed-loop system is practical fixed-time stable, and the formation tracking errors converge to a small neighbourhood of the zero in a fixed time. Finally, a numerical simulation reveals the validity of the devised distributed formation control scheme.