Motion Coordination Problems with Collision Avoidance for Multi-Agent Systems

This chapter studies the collision avoidance problem in the motion coordination control strategies for multi-agent systems. The proposed control strategies are decentralised, since agents have no global knowledge of the goal to achieve, knowing only the position and velocity of some agents. These control strategies allow a set of mobile agents achieve formations, formation tracking and containment. For the collision avoidance, we add a repulsive vector field of the unstable focus type to the motion coordination control strategies. We use formation graphs to represent interactions between agents. The results are presented for the front points of differential-drive mobile robots. The theoretical results are verified by numerical simulation

Control Of Nonh=holonomic Systems

Many real-world electrical and mechanical systems have velocity-dependent constraints in their dynamic models. For example, car-like robots, unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles and hopping robots, etc. Most of these systems can be transformed into a chained form, which is considered as a canonical form of these nonholonomic systems. Hence, study of chained systems ensure their wide applicability. This thesis studied the problem of continuous feed-back control of the chained systems while pursuing inverse optimality and exponential convergence rates, as well as the feed-back stabilization problem under input saturation constraints. These studies are based on global singularity-free state transformations and controls are synthesized from resulting linear systems. Then, the application of optimal motion planning and dynamic tracking control of nonholonomic autonomous underwater vehicles is considered. The obtained trajectories satisfy the boundary conditions and the vehicles\u27 kinematic model, hence it is smooth and feasible. A collision avoidance criteria is set up to handle the dynamic environments. The resulting controls are in closed forms and suitable for real-time implementations. Further, dynamic tracking controls are developed through the Lyapunov second method and back-stepping technique based on a NPS AUV II model. In what follows, the application of cooperative surveillance and formation control of a group of nonholonomic robots is investigated. A designing scheme is proposed to achieves a rigid formation along a circular trajectory or any arbitrary trajectories. The controllers are decentralized and are able to avoid internal and external collisions. Computer simulations are provided to verify the effectiveness of these designs

Flocking with Obstacle Avoidance

In this paper, we provide a dynamic graph theoretical framework for flocking in presence of multiple obstacles. In particular, we give formal definitions of nets and flocks as spatially induced graphs. We provide models of nets and flocks and discuss the realization/embedding issues related to structural nets and flocks. This allows task representation and execution for a network of agents called alpha-agents. We also consider flocking in the presence of multiple obstacles. This task is achieved by introducing two other types of agents called beta-agents and gamma-agents. This framework enables us to address split/rejoin and squeezing maneuvers for nets/flocks of dynamic agents that communicate with each other. The problems arising from switching topology of these networks of mobile agents make the analysis and design of the decision-making protocols for such networks rather challenging. We provide simulation results that demonstrate the effectiveness of our theoretical and computational tools

Robust and adaptive chatter free formation control of wheeled mobile robots with uncertainties

This paper addresses the robust formation control of non-holonomic mobile robots with homogeneous system architecture and decentralized control structure. Therefore, it was necessary the mathematical modeling of mobile robots, from which, the Separation-Bearing variant of Leader-Following control strategy was implemented. The stability proof were based on the Lyapunov theory. The sliding mode control (SMC) strategy was used in the controller design to make the control robust to the incidence of uncertainties and disturbances. The Fuzzy Adaptive Formation Control is designed to eliminate the  previous bounding knowledge of these uncertainties and disturbances. The proposed control effectiveness is demonstrated by results obtained with simulations in Matlab/Simulink. The pure kinematic and kinematic with disturbances is also analyzed. The results shows the controllers effectiveness to formation of multi-robots systems to the eight-shaped trajectory