Distributed Composite Formation Tracking Control of High-Speed Trains Under Safety Constraints

Safety and comfort are critical in the formation control of high-speed trains (HSTs). In this paper, a novel distributed composite adaptive control strategy with safety constraints is proposed to enhance the robustness and tracking precision of HSTs formation systems under unknown external disturbances. First, a universal nonlinear transformation technique is employed to handle position and velocity constraints, thereby removing the feasibility condition requirement in virtual controllers. Then, distributed control laws are designed using the command filter backstepping method, a disturbance observer, and an adaptive estimation technique. Furthermore, a rigorous analysis framework based on Lyapunov’s theorem is established, addressing state stability, prescribed tracking error performance, and Zeno behavior. Finally, simulation experiments are conducted to validate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed control scheme.