Distributed formation tracking using local coordinate systems

This paper studies the formation tracking problem for multi-agent systems, for which a distributed estimator–controller scheme is designed relying only on the agents’ local coordinate systems such that the centroid of the controlled formation tracks a given trajectory. By introducing a gradient descent term into the estimator, the explicit knowledge of the bound of the agents’ speed is not necessary in contrast to existing works, and each agent is able to compute the centroid of the whole formation in finite time. Then, based on the centroid estimation, a distributed control algorithm is proposed to render the formation tracking and stabilization errors to converge to zero, respectively. Finally, numerical simulations are carried to validate our proposed framework for solving the formation tracking problem

Practical Issues in Formation Control of Multi-Robot Systems

Considered in this research is a framework for effective formation control of multirobot systems in dynamic environments. The basic formation control involves two important considerations: (1) Real-time trajectory generation algorithms for distributed control based on nominal agent models, and (2) robust tracking of reference trajectories under model uncertainties. Proposed is a two-layer hierarchical architecture for collectivemotion control ofmultirobot nonholonomic systems. It endows robotic systems with the ability to simultaneously deal with multiple tasks and achieve typical complex formation missions, such as collisionfree maneuvers in dynamic environments, tracking certain desired trajectories, forming suitable patterns or geometrical shapes, and/or varying the pattern when necessary. The study also addresses real-time formation tracking of reference trajectories under the presence of model uncertainties and proposes robust control laws such that over each time interval any tracking errors due to system uncertainties are driven down to zero prior to the commencement of the subsequent computation segment. By considering a class of nonlinear systems with favorable finite-time convergence characteristics, sufficient conditions for exponential finite-time stability are established and then applied to distributed formation tracking controls. This manifests in the settling time of the controlled system being finite and no longer than the predefined reference trajectory segment computing time interval, thus making tracking errors go to zero by the end of the time horizon over which a segment of the reference trajectory is generated. This way the next segment of the reference trajectory is properly initialized to go into the trajectory computation algorithm. Consequently this could lead to a guarantee of desired multi-robot motion evolution in spite of system uncertainties. To facilitate practical implementation, communication among multi-agent systems is considered to enable the construction of distributed formation control. Instead of requiring global communication among all robots, a distributed communication algorithm is employed to eliminate redundant data propagation, thus reducing energy consumption and improving network efficiency while maintaining connectivity to ensure the convergence of formation control

Sliding Mode Reference Coordination of Constrained Feedback Systems

[EN] This paper addresses the problem of coordinating dynamical systems with possibly different dynamics (e.g., linear and nonlinear, different orders, constraints, etc.) to achieve some desired collective behavior under the constraints and capabilities of each system. To this end, we develop a new methodology based on reference conditioning techniques using geometric set invariance and sliding mode control: the sliding mode reference coordination (SMRCoord). The main idea is to coordinate the systems references. Starting from a general framework, we propose two approaches: a local one through direct interactions between the different systems by sharing and conditioning their own references and a global centralized one, where a central node makes decisions using information coming from the systems references. In particular, in this work we focus in implementation on multivariable systems like unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and robustness to external perturbations. To show the applicability of the approach, the problem of coordinating UAVs with input constraints is addressed as a particular case of multivariable reference coordination with both global and local configuration.Research in this area is partially supported by Argentine government (ANPCyT PICT 2011-0888 and CONICET PIP 112-2011-00361), Spanish government (FEDER-CICYT DPI2011-28112-C04-01), and Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Grant FPI/2009-21)Vignoni, A.; Garelli, F.; Picó, J. (2013). Sliding Mode Reference Coordination of Constrained Feedback Systems. Mathematical Problems in Engineering. 2013:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/764348S1112013Information consensus in multivehicle cooperative control. (2007). IEEE Control Systems, 27(2), 71-82. doi:10.1109/mcs.2007.338264Cao, Y., Yu, W., Ren, W., & Chen, G. (2013). An Overview of Recent Progress in the Study of Distributed Multi-Agent Coordination. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 9(1), 427-438. doi:10.1109/tii.2012.2219061Interconnected dynamic systems: An overview on distributed control. (2013). IEEE Control Systems, 33(1), 76-88. doi:10.1109/mcs.2012.2225929Olfati-Saber, R., Fax, J. A., & Murray, R. M. (2007). Consensus and Cooperation in Networked Multi-Agent Systems. Proceedings of the IEEE, 95(1), 215-233. doi:10.1109/jproc.2006.887293He, W., & Cao, J. (2011). Consensus control for high-order multi-agent systems. IET Control Theory & Applications, 5(1), 231. doi:10.1049/iet-cta.2009.0191Liu, L. (2012). Robust cooperative output regulation problem for non-linear multi-agent systems. IET Control Theory & Applications, 6(13), 2142-2148. doi:10.1049/iet-cta.2011.0575Pitarch, J. L., Sala, A., & Arino, C. V. (2014). Closed-Form Estimates of the Domain of Attraction for Nonlinear Systems via Fuzzy-Polynomial Models. IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, 44(4), 526-538. doi:10.1109/tcyb.2013.2258910Nuñez, S., De Battista, H., Garelli, F., Vignoni, A., & Picó, J. (2013). Second-order sliding mode observer for multiple kinetic rates estimation in bioprocesses. Control Engineering Practice, 21(9), 1259-1265. doi:10.1016/j.conengprac.2013.03.003Wu, L., Su, X., & Shi, P. (2012). Sliding mode control with bounded gain performance of Markovian jump singular time-delay systems. Automatica, 48(8), 1929-1933. doi:10.1016/j.automatica.2012.05.064Cao, Y., Ren, W., & Meng, Z. (2010). Decentralized finite-time sliding mode estimators and their applications in decentralized finite-time formation tracking. Systems & Control Letters, 59(9), 522-529. doi:10.1016/j.sysconle.2010.06.002Cortés, J. (2006). Finite-time convergent gradient flows with applications to network consensus. Automatica, 42(11), 1993-2000. doi:10.1016/j.automatica.2006.06.015Rao, S., & Ghose, D. (2011). Sliding mode control-based algorithms for consensus in connected swarms. International Journal of Control, 84(9), 1477-1490. doi:10.1080/00207179.2011.602834Guo, P., Zhang, J., Lyu, M., & Bo, Y. (2013). Sliding Mode Control for Multiagent System with Time-Delay and Uncertainties: An LMI Approach. Mathematical Problems in Engineering, 2013, 1-12. doi:10.1155/2013/805492Garelli, F., Mantz, R. J., & De Battista, H. (2006). Limiting interactions in decentralized control of MIMO systems. Journal of Process Control, 16(5), 473-483. doi:10.1016/j.jprocont.2005.09.001Garelli, F., Mantz, R. J., & De Battista, H. (2007). Sliding mode compensation to preserve dynamic decoupling of stable systems. Chemical Engineering Science, 62(17), 4705-4716. doi:10.1016/j.ces.2007.05.020Picó, J., Garelli, F., De Battista, H., & Mantz, R. J. (2009). Geometric invariance and reference conditioning ideas for control of overflow metabolism. Journal of Process Control, 19(10), 1617-1626. doi:10.1016/j.jprocont.2009.08.007Revert, A., Garelli, F., Pico, J., De Battista, H., Rossetti, P., Vehi, J., & Bondia, J. (2013). Safety Auxiliary Feedback Element for the Artificial Pancreas in Type 1 Diabetes. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 60(8), 2113-2122. doi:10.1109/tbme.2013.2247602Gracia, L., Sala, A., & Garelli, F. (2012). A supervisory loop approach to fulfill workspace constraints in redundant robots. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 60(1), 1-15. doi:10.1016/j.robot.2011.07.008Gracia, L., Garelli, F., & Sala, A. (2013). Integrated sliding-mode algorithms in robot tracking applications. Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, 29(1), 53-62. doi:10.1016/j.rcim.2012.07.007Vignoni, A., Garelli, F., & Picó, J. (2013). Coordinación de sistemas con diferentes dinámicas utilizando conceptos de invarianza geométrica y modos deslizantes. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática Industrial RIAI, 10(4), 390-401. doi:10.1016/j.riai.2013.09.001Hanus, R., Kinnaert, M., & Henrotte, J.-L. (1987). Conditioning technique, a general anti-windup and bumpless transfer method. Automatica, 23(6), 729-739. doi:10.1016/0005-1098(87)90029-xMareczek, J., Buss, M., & Spong, M. W. (2002). Invariance control for a class of cascade nonlinear systems. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 47(4), 636-640. doi:10.1109/9.995041Blasco, X., García-Nieto, S., & Reynoso-Meza, G. (2012). Control autónomo del seguimiento de trayectorias de un vehículo cuatrirrotor. Simulación y evaluación de propuestas. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática Industrial RIAI, 9(2), 194-199. doi:10.1016/j.riai.2012.01.00

Finite-Time Resilient Formation Control with Bounded Inputs

In this paper we consider the problem of a multi-agent system achieving a formation in the presence of misbehaving or adversarial agents. We introduce a novel continuous time resilient controller to guarantee that normally behaving agents can converge to a formation with respect to a set of leaders. The controller employs a norm-based filtering mechanism, and unlike most prior algorithms, also incorporates input bounds. In addition, the controller is shown to guarantee convergence in finite time. A sufficient condition for the controller to guarantee convergence is shown to be a graph theoretical structure which we denote as Resilient Directed Acyclic Graph (RDAG). Further, we employ our filtering mechanism on a discrete time system which is shown to have exponential convergence. Our results are demonstrated through simulations