Frequency response of swarm deformation with control barrier function

In this study, we focused on robotic swarms, allowing multiple anonymous autonomous robots to gather and move mutually in tasks. We proposed a method to design a parameter of the control barrier function (CBF) in a robotic swarm so that the swarm can achieve collision-free deformation considering the environmental conditions. We analyzed the responses to perturbations of swarming robots, to which we applied the CBF. Although we can guarantee a safe distance between mobile robots, the CBF limits their actions and prevents swarm deformation. Through analysis of the frequency domain, we investigated the effects of a selected parameter in the CBF on the deformability of a swarm. We obtained an appropriate range of parameters that realize both distance maintenance and deformability retention.

Distributed Swarm Control Algorithm of Multiple Unmanned Surface Vehicles Based on Grouping Method

This paper addresses the distributed swarm control problem of multiple unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) in Euclidean space with virtual leader. Firstly, to investigate the topology of the neighborhood relations between vehicles, a new time-variant topology structure is proposed. Secondly, to research the dynamic properties of the group for the case where the number of virtual leader is different, a grouping method based on cosine similarity is proposed. Thirdly, to ensure the high effeciency of information transmission and the reduction of costs, a distributed swarm control algorithm is proposed, which is mainly composed of three parts: gradient descent term, velocity consensus term and navigational feedback term. To analyze the stability of system, the concept of translation framework is introduced. Based on the properties of the Hamiltonian and LaSalle invariance principle, the stability of multiple USVs swarm motion is proved. Finally, simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Control Input Design for a Robot Swarm Maintaining Safety Distances in Crowded Environment

We consider an autonomous and decentralized mobile robotic swarm that does not require an advanced communication system; moreover, each robot must pass a narrow space preserving the distance with other robots. The control barrier function (CBF) method is useful for robotic swarms to guarantee collision avoidance. However, introducing CBF inequalities can cancel other objectives and sometimes causes a deadlock problem. Therefore, we introduce a coupled oscillator system to generate asymmetric global order by itself to avoid deadlock. By generating an effective global order in the swarm, each robot adequately moves to a target position without requiring high-cost communication systems.