Aggregation in a swarm of non-holonomic agents using artificial potentials and sliding mode control

In this paper we consider the aggregation of swarms whose agents are moving in 2-dimensions with a non-holonomic agent dynamics. We approach this problem using artificial potentials and sliding mode control. The main contribution is the extension of the recent results in the literature based on a similar approach for simple integrator agent dynamics model to a significantly more realistic and more difficult setting with non-holonomic unicycle agent dynamics model. In particular, we design a continuous-time control scheme via a constructive analysis based on artificial potentials and sliding mode control techniques. The effectiveness of the proposed design for solving the swarm aggregation problem is demonstrated analytically as well as via a set of simulation results.