A novel fixed-time control scheme for multi-UAV wildfire tracking with dynamic reconfiguration and fault tolerance

Every summer, wildfires ravage thousands of acres. To respond effectively and reduce the impact, firefighters need real-time monitoring of the fire's progression. This article proposes a novel fixed-time control scheme for a multiple quadcopter uncrewed aerial vehicle (multi-QUAV) system designed to cooperatively monitor the dynamic spread of wildfires, even in the presence of unforeseen actuator faults and dynamic changes in the number of QUAVs due to damage, refuelling, or wildfire expansion. The control scheme integrates a fixed-time sliding mode control method with a fixed-time extended state observer (FxESO) to estimate multi-source perturbations arising from external disturbances, parameter uncertainties and actuator faults. The fixed-time convergence of the collaborative formation tracking error to zero is rigorously proven using Lyapunov theorem. Comparative simulations, benchmarked against three existing control schemes, demonstrate superior convergence speed, reduced overshoot, and improved resilience in wildfire scenarios, highlighting the potential for enhancing emergency response systems.Highlights Fault-tolerant controlWildfire monitoringTime-varying formation tracking