Distributed Path-Following Formation Control of Multi-AUV Based on Graph Laplacian

In this paper, we consider the distributed path-following control problem of a class of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) moving in a leader-follower formation. Based on graph Laplacian, a distributed control law is developed to fulfill the task utilizing only the relative position information from its neighbours without velocity measurement, which indeed adapted to the underwater weak sensing environment. Moreover, in order to reach a moving formation with a common velocity and direction, the control law also incorporates a velocity estimation and consistent direction components with communication graph, which has different topology from sensing graph. Considering the kinematic and dynamic AUV model simultaneously is more complicated than common single-integrator model. Finally, the stability of the design is proven via input-to-state analysis, and simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.