Consensus for multiple unmanned surface vehicle (MUSV) systems with Markov switching topologies

This paper is concerned with sampled-data leader following consensus of multiple unmanned surface vehicle (MUSV) systems with random switching network topologies and wave-induced disturbance. By modelling the switching of network topologies with the use of a Markov process and considering the effect of wave-induced disturbance, a new sampleddata consensus control protocol is proposed. By employing an appropriate Lyapunov-Krosovskii function method and the weak infinitesimal operation, a novel stability criterion is derived, which ensures that the MUSV system can reach robustly leader-following consensus with H∞ performance satisfied. Based on this criterion, the Markov dependent switching consensus controller gains are obtained by solving a set of linear matrix inequalities. Finally, an illustrative example is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme for MUSV systems.