Triggering and control codesign in robust self-triggered DMPC for trajectory tracking control of multi-USV system

This paper considers the tracking problem of a fleet of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) subject to low state feedback frequencies, disturbances, and communication delays. Influenced by the high computational complexity of localization algorithms, the low-frequency state feedback brings challenges in fulfilling the high-frequency control requirement for USVs. Therefore, a novel self-triggered distributed model predictive control (ST-DMPC) approach, with a codesign dual-model control strategy, is proposed. By simultaneously optimizing control inputs and triggering intervals, this approach achieves expected control performance comparable to high-frequency control under low state feedback frequencies. Furthermore, sufficient conditions for ensuring recursive feasibility and closed-loop system stability are derived. Finally, a numerical experiment and comparison study are conducted to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.