Game-Based Event-Triggered Control for Unmanned Surface Vehicle: Algorithm Design and Harbor Experiment

To improve the trajectory tracking performance of unmanned surface vehicle (USV), this article investigates the USV optimal control problem with the consideration of actuator wear. In the proposed algorithm, the USV control system is divide into kinematic subsystem and kinetic subsystem. In particular, corresponding performance indexes that looking forward to be optimized are defined for each subsystem. The related value functions, Hamilton-Jacobi–Bellman equations and optimal control policies are approximated by actor-critic neural networks. To reduce the wear of propeller and rudder, the event-triggered problem is considered as a zero-sum game solving problem, where the best control inputs and worst thresholds are delivered via minmax strategy. Also, the nonlinear uncertainties of the USV are approximated and environment disturbances are compensated in the value functions for better control performance. The USV closed-loop control system is proved semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded stability via Lyapunov theory. Finally, a simulation case and harbor experiment are illustrated to verify the superiorities and engineering application values of the proposed algorithm.