Platoon control design for unmanned surface vehicles subject to input delay

Vessel train formation as a new trend has been raised in cooperative control for multiple vessels. This paper addresses formation control design for a group of unmanned surface vehicles platoon considering input delay. To account for connectivity-preserving and collision-avoiding, Barrier Lyapunov function is incorporated into the constraints design of line-of-sight range and bearing. To alleviate the computational burden, neural dynamic model is employed to simplify the control design and smooth the input signals. Besides, input control arising from time delay due to mechanisms and communication is considered in the marine vessels. Within the framework of the backstepping technique, distributed coordination is accomplished in finite time and the uniformly ultimately boundness of overall system is guaranteed via rigorous stability analysis. Finally, the simulation is performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control method.