Objective This study aims to develop a formation maneuver control mechanism for multiple autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) operating under external and parameter uncertainties. Additionally, considering the limited resources available on ASVs, it is preferred to design a resource-efficient formation control algorithm.

Method First, affine transformation is integrated into our control scheme, enabling the ASVs to achieve rotation, scaling, translation and shearing motions, both individually and in combination. This approach allows for flexible and distributed formation maneuvering. Second, to address the limitation of communication resources, an event-triggered mechanism is proposed and incorporated into our algorithm. By evaluating the triggering condition, vehicles communicate with their neighbors only when necessary, i.e., when the predefined triggering condition is met. This process effectively reduces the frequency of inter-vehicle communication, leading to more efficient utilization of resources, and avoids Zeno behavior.

Results Stability analysis demonstrates the convergence of all closed-loop error signals to a compact set, ensuring the ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system. Simulation results confirm that the proposed algorithm enables the formation to achieve various geometric transformations, while the event-triggered mechanism reduces the communication frequency, resulting in a 78% saving in communication resources.

Conclusion The proposed algorithm enhances the flexibility of ASV formations by incorporating affine transformations and reduces energy consumption through lower communication frequency. These findings provide reference for optimizing ASV formation design.