Dynamic Event-Triggered Target Encirclement Control for Heterogeneous UAV/UGV Swarm Based on Finite-Time Distributed Target Observation

Target encirclement by heterogeneous swarms composed of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) and uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) represents a significant application in multi-agent cooperative operations. With the unified kinematic model for the air-ground heterogeneous multi-agent system (HMAS) established, a finite-time distributed target observer (FTDTO) is first developed to address the issue that not all individuals in the swarm can obtain complete target information. An extended state observer (ESO) is then designed to simultaneously estimate both the agent’s own state and external disturbances, effectively handling uncertainties arising from sensor measurement noise and nonlinear model dynamics. Furthermore, considering the inherent communication challenges and bandwidth limitations in complex air-ground cooperative networks, a dynamic event-triggered mechanism (DETM) is employed. Based on this DETM, an HMAS encirclement control law is developed with adaptive radius contraction capability to prevent target escape. Theoretical analysis demonstrates the stability of the proposed ESO, FTDTO, and control law, and shows that Zeno behavior can be avoided. Simulation experiments are conducted to compare the proposed method with existing approaches, verifying the effectiveness of the proposed method and the target tracking capability with adaptive encirclement formation.