Multiple circles formation-circumnavigation switching control around a nonstationary target

In this study, the problem of multiple circles formation-circumnavigation switching control around a nonstationary target of multiple heterogeneous autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) systems with intermittent communication among partial individuals is investigated. An intermittent communication-based two-layer control strategy is proposed, comprising finite time observers and finite time controller. Since the communication between individuals is intermittent and only partial AUVs can directly obtain partial information from the target, a distributed adaptive finite-time hybrid observer is designed to estimate the information of the target. Additionally, another observer is developed to estimate the state of cluster leader. Subsequently, based on geometric structure and variable substitution, a distributed finite- time multiple circles formation-circumnavigation switching controller is designed, using the estimated value as the reference signal. The controller enables smooth switching between formation and circumnavigation for multiple AUV systems in intermittent communication scenarios, which can effectively improve the economy and practicality of applications. A homogeneous technique is used to show that the control objective can be achieved in finite time under the proposed controller. Numerical simulations are conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.