Objective In order to realize formation control for multiple unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) subject to practical needs, a distributed event-triggered formation control method for multiple USVs is proposed which is capable of ensuring collision avoidance and connectivity preservation.

Methods Considering the disturbances caused by marine environments and the uncertainties of system models, a disturbance observer is designed. Aiming to avoid potential collisions and the loss of connectivity among USVs during the process of realizing the desired formations, artificial potential field functions are utilized to design a controller with collision avoidance and connectivity preservation abilities. To reduce the frequency of control updates, a distributed event-triggering mechanism is designed for each USV, enabling it to determine the execution time of its own control input based on local information.

Results Theoretical analysis proves the uniform ultimate boundedness of formation errors, and the event-triggered mechanism does not display Zeno behaviors. The simulation results validate that the proposed control method can significantly reduce the number of controller updates and prevent collisions among USVs while maintaining their connectivity.

Conclusion The results of this study can help to ensure the safe formation control of USVs and reduce the wear and tear of control devices.