Fully Distributed Predefined-Time Affine Formation Maneuver Control for Fixed-Wing UAVs

Chao Yan; Tianlai Xu; Beixiao Zhu; Kai Zhang; Jiahang Li; Jinlong Liu

doi:10.1016/j.ifacol.2025.11.163

Fully Distributed Predefined-Time Affine Formation Maneuver Control for Fixed-Wing UAVs

Chao Yan^*
, Tianlai Xu^*
, Beixiao Zhu
, Kai Zhang^*
, Jiahang Li^*
, Jinlong Liu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Astronautics, Harbin Institute of Technology
ShanghaiTech University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review

Abstract

This study addresses the leader-follower affine formation maneuver problem with predefined time convergence for fixed-wing UAVs over a directed communication graph. To mitigate unknown disturbances during UAV flight, a disturbance observer is first developed to guarantee convergence within a predefined time. Then, a backstepping-based control strategy is designed to ensure that each follower UAV accomplishes the target affine formation maneuver within the predefined time. A key benefit of the proposed method is its fully distributed implementation capability, which ensures the affine formation maneuver is completed within a user-specified convergence time. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	280-285
Number of pages	6
Journal	IFAC-PapersOnLine
Volume	59
Issue number	20
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2025.11.163
State	Published - 1 Aug 2025
Externally published	Yes
Event	23th IFAC Symposium on Automatic Control in Aerospace, ACA 2025 - Harbin, China Duration: 2 Aug 2025 → 6 Aug 2025

Keywords

UAVs
affine formation maneuver
backstepping technique
disturbance observer
fully distributed
predefined-time

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10.1016/j.ifacol.2025.11.163

Cite this

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title = "Fully Distributed Predefined-Time Affine Formation Maneuver Control for Fixed-Wing UAVs",

abstract = "This study addresses the leader-follower affine formation maneuver problem with predefined time convergence for fixed-wing UAVs over a directed communication graph. To mitigate unknown disturbances during UAV flight, a disturbance observer is first developed to guarantee convergence within a predefined time. Then, a backstepping-based control strategy is designed to ensure that each follower UAV accomplishes the target affine formation maneuver within the predefined time. A key benefit of the proposed method is its fully distributed implementation capability, which ensures the affine formation maneuver is completed within a user-specified convergence time. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.",

keywords = "UAVs, affine formation maneuver, backstepping technique, disturbance observer, fully distributed, predefined-time",

author = "Chao Yan and Tianlai Xu and Beixiao Zhu and Kai Zhang and Jiahang Li and Jinlong Liu",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2025 The Authors.; 23th IFAC Symposium on Automatic Control in Aerospace, ACA 2025 ; Conference date: 02-08-2025 Through 06-08-2025",

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AU - Xu, Tianlai

AU - Zhu, Beixiao

AU - Zhang, Kai

AU - Li, Jiahang

AU - Liu, Jinlong

PY - 2025/8/1

Y1 - 2025/8/1

N2 - This study addresses the leader-follower affine formation maneuver problem with predefined time convergence for fixed-wing UAVs over a directed communication graph. To mitigate unknown disturbances during UAV flight, a disturbance observer is first developed to guarantee convergence within a predefined time. Then, a backstepping-based control strategy is designed to ensure that each follower UAV accomplishes the target affine formation maneuver within the predefined time. A key benefit of the proposed method is its fully distributed implementation capability, which ensures the affine formation maneuver is completed within a user-specified convergence time. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

AB - This study addresses the leader-follower affine formation maneuver problem with predefined time convergence for fixed-wing UAVs over a directed communication graph. To mitigate unknown disturbances during UAV flight, a disturbance observer is first developed to guarantee convergence within a predefined time. Then, a backstepping-based control strategy is designed to ensure that each follower UAV accomplishes the target affine formation maneuver within the predefined time. A key benefit of the proposed method is its fully distributed implementation capability, which ensures the affine formation maneuver is completed within a user-specified convergence time. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

KW - UAVs

KW - affine formation maneuver

KW - backstepping technique

KW - disturbance observer

KW - fully distributed

KW - predefined-time

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T2 - 23th IFAC Symposium on Automatic Control in Aerospace, ACA 2025

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ER -

Fully Distributed Predefined-Time Affine Formation Maneuver Control for Fixed-Wing UAVs

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Keywords

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