Improved USV formation control with adaptive disturbance compensation and dynamic artificial potential field

• A multi-layer cooperative control framework integrating adaptive LOS guidance, DMA-AAPF, and NDOB-based ASMC is proposed for underactuated USV formations. • DMA-AAPF with velocity prediction and dynamic scaling enables smooth, proactive obstacle avoidance. • Energy-smoothing in DMA-AAPF suppresses trajectory oscillations and alleviates local minima. • Formation errors remain below 0.2 m under severe Sea State 2 disturbances. • Adaptive scaling of repulsive gains reduces peak control effort by more than 55% , limiting repulsive forces to below 9 N and preventing actuator saturation. Precise formation control and autonomous obstacle avoidance for underactuated unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) in dynamic marine environments remain challenging due to fixed guidance parameters and rigid potential fields. This paper proposes a multi-layer cooperative control framework featuring a Disturbance-Mediated Adaptive Artificial Potential Field (DMA-APF), integrated with an adaptive LOS guidance law and an adaptive sliding mode control (ASMC) scheme. The DMA-APF synchronizes its predictive horizon with USV surge velocity and dynamically scales repulsive gains according to real-time environmental threats. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed framework significantly improves tracking accuracy and actuator efficiency. Steady-state formation errors are reduced from 0.4 m to within 0.2 m, and in dense obstacle scenarios, peak repulsive forces are limited to below 9 N, well below the 20 N saturation threshold. The results indicate that the DMA-APF effectively balances formation maintenance with safe, smooth, and energy-efficient navigation in complex maritime conditions.