Sequential formation control in multiagent systems

Abstract

The problem of sequential formation control in multiagent systems is studied in this paper, where a team of agents is required to establish needed formations in order at user-defined times. To address this problem, our contribution is a finite-time distributed control architecture predicated on multiplex networks over directed graph topologies. The key feature of the multiplex networks is that it allows leader agent(s) to spatially alter the size and orientation of the resulting formation without requiring global information exchange ability. In addition, the key feature of the finite-time approach is to ensure that the overall multiagent system establishes a particular formation determined by the leader agent(s) at user-defined times. System-theoretical analysis of the proposed architecture is given using the time transformation approach along with Lyapunov stability theory, and an illustrative numerical example is also included to demonstrate the ability of the proposed architecture in addressing the sequential formation control problem.

Keywords:

• Multiagent systems
• sequential formation control
• finite-time control
• multiplex networks
• system-theoretical analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of the numerical results are available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kimberly Witke

Kimberly Witke is a Ph.D. student of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Florida. Her dynamical systems and controls research specializes in distributed unmanned vehicle control with applications to heterogeneous swarms.

Tansel Yucelen

Tansel Yucelen is an Associate Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Florida. His research places a strong emphasis on both syetem-theoretical research and experimentation for addressing fundamental and open real-world technological problems. Specifically, his dynamical systems and controls research specializes in adaptive and robust control of safety-critical systems, distributed estimation and control of networked multiagent systems, and resilient and secure robotics.