Distributed formation control with relaxed motion requirements

Heterogeneous formation shape control with interagent bearing and distance constraints involves the design of a distributed control law that ensures the formation moves such that these interagent constraints are achieved and maintained. This paper looks at the design of a distributed control scheme to solve different formation shape control problems in an ambient two-dimensional space with bearing, distance and mixed bearing and distance constraints. The proposed control law allows the agents in the formation to move in any direction on a half-plane and guarantees that despite this freedom, the proposed shape control algorithm ensures convergence to a formation shape meeting the prescribed constraints. This work provides an interesting and novel contrast to much of the existing work in formation control where distance-only constraints are typically maintained and where each agent’s motion is typically restricted to follow a very particular path. A stability analysis is sketched, and a number of illustrative examples are also given. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.