Safe-critical formation reconfiguration of multiple unmanned surface vehicles subject to static and dynamic obstacles based on guiding vector fields and fixed-time control barrier functions

This paper addresses the formation reconfiguration problem of multiple unmanned surface vehicles subject to static and dynamic obstacles. Specifically, a desired heading is prescribed based on a guiding vector field for pointing the target while avoiding static obstacles. Fixed-time control Lyapunov and barrier function are employed to steer each USV to its goal while avoiding collision with dynamic obstacles and neighboring USVs. A constrained quadratic program (QP) problem is formulated to compute the optimal guidance signals of surge speeds and yaw rates under input constraints, and a lack variable is employed to guarantee feasibility of the QP problem. By using the proposed method, the multiple USVs are capable of reaching the their goals with safety guarantees. Both simulations and experiments results are given to substantiate the efficacy of the proposed formation reconfiguration method based on guiding vector fields and fixed-time control barrier functions. •Formation reconfiguration avoiding static, dynamic obstacles and neighbors.•The proposed method is able to include the input constraints.•The combination of guiding vector fields and CBF is beneficial to removing the deadlock.