Predefined-time formation control of the quadrotor-UAV cluster’ position system

Based on the state observer and sliding-mode control technique, this paper analytically addresses the fully distributed predefined-time formation problem of quadrotor-UAV cluster’ position system. Firstly, the dynamic model of the quadrotor-UAV is established, and the formation problem of quadrotor-UAV cluster is transformed into the consensus problem of second-order multi-agent systems. Subsequently, considering the distributed communication network, a distributed predefined-time state observer is designed for each quadrotor-UAV to estimate the relative state information between the virtual leader quadrotor-UAV and itself. On this basis, a distributed formation controller is designed via the sliding mode control method, so that all quadrotor-UAVs in the cluster can quickly achieve the desired relative position relationship with the leader within a predetermined time, that is, form the desired formation shape, and maintain it precisely. Finally, some simulation experiments of the three-dimensional motion of the formation control of quadrotor-UAV cluster are carried out. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed predefined-time cooperative formation control strategy.