Explaining Finite State Machine Characteristics using Variable Structure Control Cbt

This paper describes how variable structure control can be used to describe the overall behavior of multiple autonomous robotic vehicles with simple finite state machine rules. The importance of this result is that we can then begin to design provably asymptotically stable group behaviors from a set of simple control laws and appropriate switching points with variable structure control. The ability to prove convergence to a goal is especially important for applications such as locating military targets or land mines.