Distributed aggregation control of mobile robotic network

This paper addresses distributed control of mobile robotic network with fixed communication topology and limited sensing ability for its aggregation behavior. The communication and mutual sensing among mobile nodes are modeled by two undirected graphs, respectively. We propose a design of distributed control laws by using two kinds of pairwise potential functions defined over undirected graphs: an extended Morse potential to make robots aggregate and keep them in formation with a crystal-like shape and a repulsive potential responsible for avoiding collisions between neighbors. The gradient of total potential is used to derive a switching control law running locally on each nonholonomic robot with limited velocity considered. Finally, nontrival simulated experiments verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the methodology and show that the scaling of the resulted crystal shape can be manipulated by changing only one parameter.