Finite-Time Formation Control for Fixed-Wing UAVs Based on Fully Actuated System Approach

This paper investigates the formation control of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems with unknown external disturbances. Addressing the complex modeling issues of UAVs, an innovative modeling method called fully-actuated system approach (FASA) has been innovated. Then, a distributed leader-following formation control strategy is proposed based on the position and velocity error information. Thirdly, a finite-time control strategy is designed by the error system, and the super-twisting sliding mode has been innovated to restrain the impact of the unknown disturbance. The sufficient condition for the system to reach formation is given by the Lyapunov stability theory. A simulation example is used to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method.