Optimal distributed controllers based on gradient-flow method for multi-agent coordination

This paper is concerned with optimal design of distributed controllers for multi-agent systems based on the gradient-flow method. First, a generalized coordination is presented as a control objective which represents a wide range of coordination tasks (e.g., consensus, formation and pattern decision) in a unified manner. Next, it is shown how to choose an optimal distributed controller in a systematic way, where an optimality measure is introduced for the generalized coordination. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through simulation for an equally spaced coordination as a typical example of the generalized coordination.