Swarm-based object manipulation using redundant manipulator analogs

In this paper, we present a method utilizing manipulability concepts and redundant manipulator analogs for swarm manipulation of a rigid object in the plane using autonomous surface vessels. The key concepts involve maximizing some metric defined in relation to a manipulability ellipsoid, which represents the mapping between applied thrust and configuration space accelerations for the object. By casting this problem in the framework of redundant manipulation, the proposed method can be carried out in real time, in a possibly changing environment, and can accommodate nonholonomic vehicles and thrust limits on the swarm. The controller includes attachment pose optimization, engagement control as the ASVs approach and attach to the object, and the manipulation control. Simulation studies demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methods.