Formation Control Protocols for Nonlinear Dynamical Systems Via Hybrid Stabilization of Sets

In this paper, we develop a hybrid control framework for addressing multiagent formation control protocols for general nonlinear dynamical systems using hybrid stabilization of sets. The proposed framework develops a novel class of fixed-order, energy-based hybrid controllers as a means for achieving cooperative control formations, which can include flocking, cyclic pursuit, rendezvous, and consensus control of multiagent systems. These dynamic controllers combine a logical switching architecture with the continuous system dynamics to guarantee that a system generalized energy function whose zero level set characterizes a specified system formation is strictly decreasing across switchings. The proposed approach addresses general nonlinear dynamical systems and is not limited to systems involving single and double integrator dynamics for consensus and formation control or unicycle models for cyclic pursuit. Finally, several numerical examples involving flocking, rendezvous, consensus, and circular formation protocols for standard system formation models are provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.