New Formation Control Designs with Virtual Leaders

Two formation control designs are presented for flocking of agroup of mobile autonomous agents in an obstacle-free environment.Both control designs use virtual leader(s) and two differentinteractive forces. Virtual leader(s) are used to direct the groupto track a desired path, as well as to ensure the group'scohesion, via the attractive force between agents and theirvirtual leader(s). The repulsive force between neighboring agentsis used to avoid agent collisions. It is shown that the agents canachieve a desired formation and follow the desired path at thesame velocity as the virtual leader's velocity. The absence of anattractive force between neighboring agents is a new feature ofthis approach, meant to help reduce sensing requirements in futuredesigns that stress a reduced level of communication among agents.Copyright at 2005 IFAC