A Framework for Multi-Vehicle Navigation Using Feedback-Based Motion Primitives

We present a hybrid control framework for solving a motion planning problem among a collection of heterogenous agents. The proposed approach utilizes a finite set of low-level motion primitives, each based on a piecewise affine feedback control, to generate complex motions in a gridded workspace. The constraints on allowable sequences of successive motion primitives are formalized through a maneuver automaton. At the higher level, a control policy generated by a shortest path non-deterministic algorithm determines which motion primitive is executed in each box of the gridded workspace. The overall framework yields a highly robust control design on both the low and high levels. We experimentally demonstrate the efficacy and robustness of this framework for multiple quadrocopters maneuvering in a 2D or 3D workspace.Comment: 7 pages, 12 figures, to appear in Proc. of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 201

Synthesizing communication plans for reachability and safety specifications

We propose control and communication strategies for nonlinear networked control systems subject to state and input constraints. The objective is to steer the state of the system towards a prescribed target set in finite time (\textit{reachability}), while at the same time remaining inside a safety set for all time (\textit{safety}). By leveraging the notion of $\delta$-ISS control Lyapunov function, we derive a sufficient condition to generate a communication scheduling, such that the resulting state trajectory guarantees reachability and safety. Moreover, in order to alleviate computational burden we present a way to find a suitable communication scheduling by implementing abstraction schemes and standard graph search methodologies. Simulation examples validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.Comment: submitted to IEEE TA