{
  "abstract": "Reliable formation tracking of fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is particularly challenging when external acceleration disturbances, command saturation, actuator-induced acceleration tracking errors, sampled communication, and recurrent common-mode outages occur simultaneously. This paper develops a predictor-based robust event-triggered leader–follower framework for a three-dimensional flight-path point-mass outer-loop model. A projected adaptive distributed observer estimates the leader state and is shown to achieve practical fixed-time stability over effective communication-available intervals. A constant-velocity state predictor and a dimensionless sampled-data triggering rule reduce inter-UAV transmissions, where the outage model accounts for physical outages, candidate-grid and dwell-time waiting, and network resynchronization. Prediction-error terms of the same order as the nominal signed-power feedback are retained explicitly to derive sampled-mode dissipation conditions and uniform ultimate boundedness for bounded outages followed by sufficiently long effective communication-available intervals. An adaptive robust controller separately addresses the matched acceleration-channel uncertainty and the unmatched observer-correction input; the virtual inertial acceleration is subsequently mapped to commands for thrust, normal load factor, and flight-path bank angle. Numerical comparisons, ablation studies, sensitivity analyses, and integration-step convergence tests illustrate finite-horizon formation recovery and a communication–accuracy–control-effort trade-off without numerically certifying the analytical recovery-interval condition.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan 430033, China"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yu Zhang",
      "orcid": "0009-0008-3715-1239"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Shiyan Sun"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Qizheng Zhou"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Huimin Zhu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Likun Han"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Chi Li",
      "orcid": "0009-0001-1013-0568"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1qezm6g02qrsc.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/math14214056",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "1qezm6g02qrsc",
  "issns": [
    "2227-7390"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/14/21/4056",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-05",
  "publisher": "MDPI AG",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1qezm6g02qrsc.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-06T00:21:06Z",
      "native_id": "10.3390/math14214056",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/14/21/4056"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "mathematics",
      "origin": "issn:2227-7390",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Robust Event-Triggered Formation Tracking of Fixed-Wing UAVs Under Aperiodic Communication Outages",
  "title_text": "Robust Event-Triggered Formation Tracking of Fixed-Wing UAVs Under Aperiodic Communication Outages",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-07T00:21:04Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1qezm6g02qrsc",
  "venue": "Mathematics",
  "versions": []
}