Nonsingular terminal sliding mode formation control with input and state quantization in unmanned surface vehicles

Abstract This paper develops a distributed formation control scheme for multi‐unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) with quantized communication. A nonsingular terminal sliding mode control (TSMC) strategy is designed for USV formation by taking input and state quantization into account for the first time. Initially, a baseline nonsingular TSMC is established for USV formation in the absence of quantization. Subsequently, the methodology is extended to handle state quantization by exploiting a quantization‐induced nonlinear quasi‐sliding mode, which ensures finite‐time convergence of tracking errors to a bounded region whose limits are explicitly adjustable via quantization parameters. Finally, the work is further generalized to simultaneously accommodate input and state quantization, thereby providing enhanced robustness and flexibility. Comparative simulation results demonstrate significant chattering reduction and superior convergence performance relative to existing methods, underscoring the practical relevance and novelty of our contributions.