Distributed event-triggered fixed-time formation and trajectory tracking control for multiple stratospheric airships

In this study, an event-triggered fixed-time multiple stratospheric airship formation trajectory tracking controller is designed, and it is composed of two parts: the airship leader trajectory tracking controller (ALTTC) and the airship follower formation tracking controller (AFFTC). First, based on the framework of backstepping, the fixed-time ALTTC is designed to allow the trajectory tracking error to converge to zero within a fixed time. Subsequently, the event-triggered fixed-time AFFTC is designed to reduce the formation tracking error to zero within a fixed time. Two event-triggering conditions are designed to reduce the transmission times of control inputs and calculation times of control outputs. The fixed-time stability and the trajectory-tracking and formation-tracking performance of event-triggered closed-loop systems are theoretically shown to be ensured, and Zeno behavior is excluded in the proposed asynchronous event-triggering mechanism. Finally, simulations indicate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.