This monograph introduces recent developments in formation control of distributed-agent systems. Eschewing the traditional concern with the dynamic characteristics of individual agents, the book proposes a treatment that studies the formation control problem in terms of interactions among agents including factors such as sensing topology, communication and actuation topologies, and computations. Keeping pace with recent technological advancements in control, communications, sensing and computation that have begun to bring the applications of distributed-systems theory out of the industrial sphere and into that of day-to-day life, this monograph provides distributed control algorithms for a group of agents that may behave together. Unlike traditional control laws that usually require measurements with respect to a global coordinate frame and communications between a centralized operation center and agents, this book provides control laws that require only relative measurements and communications between agents without interaction with a centralized operator. Since the control algorithms presented in this book do not require any global sensing and any information exchanges with a centralized operation center, they can be realized in a fully distributed way, which significantly reduces the operation and implementation costs of a group of agents. Formation Control will give both students and researchers interested in pursuing this field a good grounding on which to base their work.

Inspired by the community behaviors of animals and humans, cooperative control has been intensively studied by numerous researchers in recent years. Cooperative control aims to build a network system collectively driven by a global objective function in a distributed or centralized communication network and shows great application potential in a wide domain. From the perspective of cybernetics in network system cooperation, one of the main tasks is to design the formation control scheme for multiple intelligent unmanned systems, facilitating the achievements of hazardous missions – e.g., deep space exploration, cooperative military operation, and collaborative transportation. Various challenges in such real-world applications are driving the proposal of advanced formation control design, which is to be addressed to bring academic achievements into real industrial scenarios. This book extends the performance of formation control beyond classical dynamic or stationary geometric configurations, focusing on formation maneuverability that enables cooperative systems to keep suitable spacial configurations during agile maneuvers. This book embarks on an adventurous journey of maneuverable formation control in constrained space with limited resources, to accomplish the exploration of an unknown environment. The investigation of the real-world challenges, including model uncertainties, measurement inaccuracy, input saturation, output constraints, and spatial collision avoidance, brings the value of this book into the practical industry, rather than being limited to academics.

A comprehensive guide to formation control of multi-agent systems using rigid graph theory This book is the first to provide a comprehensive and unified treatment of the subject of graph rigidity-based formation control of multi-agent systems. Such systems are relevant to a variety of emerging engineering applications, including unmanned robotic vehicles and mobile sensor networks. Graph theory, and rigid graphs in particular, provides a natural tool for describing the multi-agent formation shape as well as the inter-agent sensing, communication, and control topology. Beginning with an introduction to rigid graph theory, the contents of the book are organized by the agent dynamic model (single integrator, double integrator, and mechanical dynamics) and by the type of formation problem (formation acquisition, formation manoeuvring, and target interception). The book presents the material in ascending level of difficulty and in a self-contained manner; thus, facilitating reader understanding. Key features: Uses the concept of graph rigidity as the basis for describing the multi-agent formation geometry and solving formation control problems. Considers different agent models and formation control problems. Control designs throughout the book progressively build upon each other. Provides a primer on rigid graph theory. Combines theory, computer simulations, and experimental results. Formation Control of Multi-Agent Systems: A Graph Rigidity Approach is targeted at researchers and graduate students in the areas of control systems and robotics. Prerequisite knowledge includes linear algebra, matrix theory, control systems, and nonlinear systems.

The first flight test phase of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Autonomous Formation Flight project has successfully demonstrated precision autonomous station-keeping of an F/A-18 research airplane with a second F/A-18 airplane. Blended inertial navigation system (INS) and global positioning system (GPS) measurements have been communicated across an air-to-air telemetry link and used to compute relative-position estimates. A precision research formation autopilot onboard the trailing airplane controls lateral and vertical spacing while the leading airplane operates under production autopilot control. Four research autopilot gain sets have been designed and flight-tested, and each exceeds the project design requirement of steady-state tracking accuracy within 1 standard deviation of 10 ft.

Selected, peer reviewed papers from the 9th International Conference on Mechatronic Systems and Materials (MSM 2013), July 1-3, 2013, Vilnius, Lithuania