A Distributed Control Strategy for Groups of Robots with Application in Flocking

Abstract

This paper presents a distributed control strategy, named Triangle Formation (TF) algorithm, for a group of robots. The algorithm is based on a geometric approach and enables three neighboring robots to form an equilateral triangular lattice. The TF algorithm is scalable since it is developed for a large group of robots by using a neighbor selection technique. To achieve obstacle avoidance by group, the algorithm is enhanced further by introducing an artificial physics model. A series of simulation studies have been conducted to observe the performance and the effectiveness of the TF algorithm. These empirical results show that swarm aggregation and flocking in an unknown environment can be realized with the TF algorithm successfully.