Distributed Distance-Based Formation-Motion Control of Unicycle Agents Without Orientation Measurements

Abstract

In this article, we present a distance-based distributed control law to simultaneously reach a desired rigid formation shape and to reach a constant consensus velocity where the whole group moves in unison. The local control law in each agent uses only local relative positions defined in a local coordinate frame, without the need to measure the orientation of its neighbors nor to exchange local state information with the neighbors. Using transversally exponential stability analysis, we establish the local exponential convergence of the closed-loop systems to the desired formation shape and consensus group motion. Numerical simulations are presented to show the effectiveness of our proposed method.