We consider the problem of distributed leader-follower formation control for nonholonomic mobile robots equipped with paracatadioptric cameras. Our approach is to translate the formation control problem from the configuration space into a separate visual servoing task for each follower. First, we present an algorithm for infinitesimal multi-body motion segmentation from multiple paracatadioptri...

Multiple spacecraft formation control about the 2 L libration point is investigated in this paper. The circular restricted three-body problem with Sun and Earth as the two primaries is utilized as a framework of study. The idea of virtual structure is considered as the architecture of multiple spacecraft formation. The center of the virtual rigid body follows a nominal orbit around the 2 L libr...

A constructive method is presented to design cooperative controllers that force a group of N mobile robots to achieve a particular formation in terms of shape and orientation while avoiding collisions between themselves. The control development is based on new local potential functions, which attain the minimum value when the desired formation is achieved, and are equal to infinity when a colli...

Nowadays, simulations of groups are important to bring more natural look to the virtual world. Moreover, large crowds can be used not only to fill space, but to create visually interesting shapes with perceptive or cognitive meaning. Positioning of people to create shapes is well known from live performances, or shows, where dancers are positioned to create formations. This principle is transfe...

This article addresses the formation control problem with mismatched compasses. Depending on the sensing and communication technology, compass mismatches may arise due to biases in measurement, drift in inertial sensing despite initial alignment, and even spatial variations in the earth’s magnetic field. To illustrate the key concepts underlying what happens, we first consider the two agent cas...

This work considers a multi-agent formation control problem where a designated leader is subjected to an additional velocity reference command. The entire formation should follow the leader while maintaining the inter-agent distance constraints. By introducing a proportional control gain term to a gradient controller that stabilizes infinitesimally rigid formations, we are able to prove stabili...

We propose a model independent coordination strategy for multi-agent formation control. The main theorem states that under a bounded tracking error assumption our method stabilizes the formation error. We illustrate the usefulness of the method by applying it to rigid body constrained motions.

A multi-robot system is formed when a group of robots interact with the environment as a single system. This system can also be in formation in order to accomplish tasks rather difficult or impossible to achieve with a single robot. This work presents results for a doctoral thesis research aiming the formation control of a mobile robot group in the active target tracking problem. All robots exc...