A Leader-Follower Algorithm for Multiple AUV Formations

Abstract

Abstract-In the future, it may be possible to employ large numbers of autonomous marine vehicles to perform tedious and dangerous tasks, such as minesweeping. Hypothetically, groups of vehicles may leverage their numbers by cooperating. A fundamental form of cooperation is to perform tasks while maintaining a geometric formation. The formation behavior can then enable other cooperative behaviors. In this paper, we describe a leader-follower formation-flying control algorithm. This algorithm can be applied to one-, two-, and threedimensional formations, and contains a degree of built-in robustness. Simulations and experiments are described that characterize the performance of the formation control algorithm. The experiments utilized surface craft that were equipped with an acoustic navigation and communication system, representative of the technologies that constrain the operation of underwater autonomous vehicles. The simulations likewise included the discrete-time nature of the communication and navigation.

Attractor dynamics approach to formation control: theory and application

“…This type of formation enables us to build formations like echelons, wedges or V-type formations that are most useful in tactical or military operations (Balch and Arkin 1998;Edwards et al 2004), or, when in 3D, also enables efficient energy expenditure at team level (Seiler et al 2002;Fowler and Andrea 2002;Nangia and Palmer 2007).…”

A highly flexible virtual physics-based control framework for multi-robot chemical plume tracing

“…Although these forces are defined only inside the control software, the robots act as though the forces are real. Such control methodology is simple -there is no need for a global controller, or long-range communication [13]. Instead, each individual observes the environment, notes the position of nearby robots, and then computes a control force vector that alters its route.…”

A Geometric Characterization of Leader-Follower Formation Control

“…In the second step the follower performs the control defined in the previous section with an added stabilizing term in order to reduce the error asymptotically to zero. The stabilizing term is chosen accurately in order to satisfy the input bounds (6).…”

“…The use of robot formations ranges from military to civilian applications such as terrain and utilities inspection, disaster monitoring, environmental surveillance, search and rescue and planetary exploration. Different robot formation typologies have been studied in the literature: ground vehicles [5], [7], [12], [13], unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) [3], [10], aircraft [8], [9], and surface and underwater autonomous vehicles [6], [14]. Existing approaches to robot formation control generally fall into three categories: behavior based, virtual structure and leader following.…”