Distributed Multi-task Formation Control under Parametric Communication Uncertainties

Abstract: Formation control is a key problem in the coordination of multiple agents. It arises new challenges to traditional formation control strategy when the communication among agents is affected by uncertainties. This paper considers the robust multi-task formation control problem of multiple non-point agents whose communications are disturbed by uncertain parameters. The control objectives include 1. achieving the desired configuration; 2. avoiding collisions; 3. preserving the connectedness of uncertain topology. To achieve these objectives, firstly, a condition of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs) is proposed for checking the connectedness of an uncertain communication topology. Then, by preserving the initial topological connectedness, a gradient-based distributed controller is designed via Lyapunov-like barrier functions. Two numerical examples illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.