Safe autonomous agent formation operations via obstacle collision avoidance

In this paper, we consider the problem of flocking and shape-orientation control of multi-agent systems with inter-agent and obstacle collision avoidance. We first consider the problem of forcing a set of autonomous agents to form a desired formation shape and orientation while avoiding inter-agent collision and collision with convex obstacles, and following a trajectory known to only one of the agents, namely the leader of the formation. Then we build upon the solution given to this problem and solve the problem of guaranteeing obstacle collision avoidance by changing the size and the orientation of the formation. Changing the size and the orientation of the formation is helpful when the agents want to go through a narrow passage while the existing size or orientation of the formation does not allow this. We also propose collision avoidance algorithms that temporarily change the shape of the formation to avoid collision with stationary or moving nonconvex obstacles. Simulation results are presented to show the performance of the proposed control laws.