Distributed finite-time sliding mode containment control for multi-unmanned surface vehicles with input and output quantization

To solve the containment control problem of multi-unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) with input and output quantization communication, we propose a distributed containment method using sliding mode control (SMC) technology. First, with only the quantized value of position information being available, a super-twisting algorithm (STA)-based observer is used to recover the unmeasured velocities of the follower USVs in a finite time. Second, based on the STA-based observer, a distributed SMC strategy is developed to guide the follower USVs closely into the convex hull formed by the leader USVs under quantized communication. Furthermore, the stability analysis is given to guarantee that sliding variables and containment position errors can converge to specified ranges related to the quantization parameters and the parameters of the STA-based observer. Finally, simulation results demonstrate the feasibility of the designed SMC approach.