Cross-dimensional formation control of second-order heterogeneous multi-agent systems. (August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ma, Lang; Wang, Yu-Long; Fei, Min-Rui; Pan, Quan-Ke
• Is Part Of: ISA transactions. Volume 127(2022)
• Page Start: 188
• Page End: 196
• Publication Date: 2022-08
• Subjects: Multi-agent systems -- Formation control -- Cross-dimensional formation; Engineering instruments -- Periodicals; Engineering instruments; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 629.805
• DOI: 10.1016/j.isatra.2022.02.036
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0019-0578

Abstract

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the cross-dimensional formation control of a second-order multi-dimensional heterogeneous multi-agent system. Agents are first separated into several groups according to their position/velocity vector dimensions. Then the cross-dimensional formation control problem is formulated such that agents in the same group form a time-varying formation in their own dimension and agents in different groups cooperatively move in multiple dimensions. This can make follower agents in different dimensions cooperatively track a leader. Moreover, a cross-dimensional formation protocol is designed based on full or partial information of neighboring agents. For higher-dimensional agents, full information of lower-dimensional neighbors is adopted. For lower-dimensional ones, only partial information of higher-dimensional neighbors is used. Furthermore, a necessary and sufficient condition for the second-order heterogeneous multi-agent system to achieve cross-dimensional formation is provided. Accordingly, a criterion for designing cross-dimensional formation protocol is further derived. Finally, under an undirected graph, a lower-dimensional protocol design criterion is obtained if there is no data exchange between lower- and higher-dimensional followers. The effectiveness of the obtained results is demonstrated through cross-dimensional target enclosing performance analysis for multiple robots and quadrotors. Highlights: The cross-dimensional formation control problem is formulated for the first time. A cross-dimensional formation protocol is designed. A necessary and sufficient condition to achieve cross-dimensional formation is given.