Clothoid-based Moving Formation Control Using Virtual Structures

Abstract

Formation control is a canonical problem in multi-agent systems as many multi-agent problems require agents to travel in coordination at some point during execution. This paper develops a method for coordinated moving formation control by building upon existing virtual structures approaches to define the relative vehicle positions and orientations and building upon clothoid-based motion planning to create the desired motion of the structure. The result is a coordinated formation control method that respects individual curvature constraints of each agent while allowing agents to track their desired positions within the formation with asymptotic convergence.