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Published September 2004 | public
Journal Article Open

Information flow and cooperative control of vehicle formations

Abstract

We consider the problem of cooperation among a collection of vehicles performing a shared task using intervehicle communication to coordinate their actions. Tools from algebraic graph theory prove useful in modeling the communication network and relating its topology to formation stability. We prove a Nyquist criterion that uses the eigenvalues of the graph Laplacian matrix to determine the effect of the communication topology on formation stability. We also propose a method for decentralized information exchange between vehicles. This approach realizes a dynamical system that supplies each vehicle with a common reference to be used for cooperative motion. We prove a separation principle that decomposes formation stability into two components: Stability of this is achieved information flow for the given graph and stability of an individual vehicle for the given controller. The information flow can thus be rendered highly robust to changes in the graph, enabling tight formation control despite limitations in intervehicle communication capability.

Additional Information

© Copyright 2004 IEEE. Reprinted with permission. Manuscript received May 5, 2003; revised December 17, 2003. [Posted online: 2004-09-13] Recommended by Guest Editors P. Antsaklis and J. Baillieul. This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Grants F49620-99-1-0190 and F49620-01-1-0460. The work of J.A. Fax was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and an ARCS Foundation Fellowship.

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