Virtual Leader Approach to Coordinated Control of Multiple Mobile Agents with Asymmetric Interactions

TLDR: In this article, a set of coordination control laws that enable the group to generate the desired stable flocking motion is introduced. But the control laws are a combination of attractive/repulsive and alignment forces, and the control law acting on each agent relies on the state information of its flockmates and the external reference signal.

Abstract: This paper considers multiple mobile agents moving in the space with point mass dynamics. We introduce a set of coordination control laws that enable the group to generate the desired stable flocking motion. The control laws are a combination of attractive/repulsive and alignment forces, and the control law acting on each agent relies on the state information of its flockmates and the external reference signal. By using the control laws, all agent velocities asymptotically approach the desired velocity, collisions are avoided between the agents, and the final tight formation minimizes all agent global potentials. Moreover, we show that the velocity of the center of mass either is equal to the desired velocity or exponentially converges to it. Furthermore, when the velocity damping is taken into account, we can properly modify the control laws to generate the same stable flocking motion. Finally, for the case that not all agents know the desired common velocity, we show that the desired flocking motion can still be guaranteed. Numerical simulations are worked out to illustrate our theoretical results.