Robust Path-Following Control for Multiple Autonomous Vehicles Along an Implicit Elliptical Curve
研究了多辆自主车辆沿隐式椭圆曲线路径的鲁棒跟踪控制问题，提出基于投影弧长的新型分布式制导律和鲁棒动力学控制器，实现等弧长间隔和均匀前进速度，避免参数化参考路径的同步计算。
This article investigates a robust path-following control problem of multiple autonomous vehicles along an implicit elliptical curve. At the kinematic level, by formulating a novel coordinated error in terms of projective arc length instead of relative distance, a new distributed guidance law is developed for multiple vehicles evolving along a geometric path, achieving an equal arc separation and a uniform forward speed. Based on simple filtering operations upon available states and invariant manifold, unknown system dynamics estimators (USDEs)-based robust kinetic controllers with a concise structure are derived to enable a satisfied nominal tracking of velocity and angular rate subject to uncertainties while eliminating the computational complexity encountered in the available function approximators. The remarkable merit of the explored solution lies in that robust cooperative behaviors over an implicit elliptical curve can be attained by specifying successive projective arc length for nonholonomic vehicles, avoiding the time-consuming path variable synchronization calculation inherent in parameterized reference-guided paradigms, eliminating temporal limitations of time-related function in trajectory tracking strategies. It is proven that all signals of a closed-loop system are convergent by using the input-to-state stable (ISS) principle. Simulation and experimental outcomes are both delivered to substantiate the efficacy and superiority of the presented method.