Multi-surface ship formation control based on finite time observer

Aiming at the problem about finite time formation control of multi-surface ships, considering the fact that the leader's information is partially known. This article uses virtual ships as pilots. firstly, a finite-time state observer was designed so that ships participating in the formation can estimate accurately expected information, and then a coordinated formation protocol was proposed based on the finite-time state observer and the homogeneous theorem, the control algorithm enables the ship to reach the desired formation and velocity within a finite time. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed algorithm was verified by simulation.