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Achieving tasks with a multiple robot system will require a control system that is both simple and scalable as the number of robots increases. Collectivebehavior as demonstrated by social insects is a form of decentralized control that may prove useful in controlling multiple robots. Nature's several examples of collective behavior have motivated our approach to controlling a multiple robot system using a group behavior. Our mechanisms, used to invoke the group behavior, allow the system of robots to perform tasks without centralized control or explicit communication. We have constructed a system of ve mobile robots capable of achieving simple collective tasks to verify the results obtained in simulation. The results suggest that decentralized control without explicit communication can be used in performing cooperative tasks requiring a collective behavior.

Abstract — The problem is studied of achieving a specified formation among a group of mobile autonomous agents by distributed control. If convergence to a point is feasible, then more general formations are achievable too, so the focus is on convergence to a point (the agreement problem). Three formation strategies are studied and convergence is proved under certain conditions. Also, motivated by the question of whether collisions occur, formation evolution is studied. I.

The distributed coordination and control of a set of autonomous mobile robots is a problem widely studied in a variety of fields, such as engineering, artificial intelligence, artificial life, robotics. Generally, in these areas the problem is studied mostly from an empirical point of view. In contrast, we aim to understand the fundamental limitations on what a set of autonomous mobile robots can achieve. In this paper we describe the current investigations on what autonomous mobile robots can and cannot do with respect to some coordination problems.

Abstract—This paper addresses the problem of coordinating multiple spacecraft to fly in tightly controlled formations. The main contribution of the paper is to introduce a coordination architecture that subsumes leader-following, behavioral, and virtual-structure approaches to the multiagent coordination problem. The architecture is illustrated through a detailed application of the ideas to the problem of synthesizing a multiple spacecraft interferometer in deep space. Index Terms—Control architecture, coordinated control, interferometry, spacecraft formation flying. I.

As research progresses in distributed robotic systems, more and more aspects of multi-robot systems are being explored. This article surveys the current state of the art in distributed mobile robot systems. Our focus is principally on research that has been demonstrated in physical robot implementations. We have identified eight primary research topics within multi-robot systems -- biological inspirations, communication, architectures, localization/mapping/exploration, object transport and manipulation, motion coordination, reconfigurable robots, and learning - and discuss the current state of research in these areas. As we describe each research area, we identify some key open issues in multi-robot team research. We conclude by identifying several additional open research issues in distributed mobile robotic systems.

Abstract—This paper presents a behavior-based approach to formation maneuvers for groups of mobile robots. Complex formation maneuvers are decomposed into a sequence of maneuvers between formation patterns. The paper presents three formation control strategies. The first strategy uses relative position information configured in a bidirectional ring topology to maintain the formation. The second strategy injects interrobot damping via passivity techniques. The third strategy accounts for actuator saturation. Hardware results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategies. Index Terms—Behavioral methods, coordinated control, formations, mobile robots, passivity.

Abstract- A key problem in cooperative robotics is the maintenance of a geometric configuration during movement. To address this problem, the concept of a virtual structure is introduced. Control methods are developed to force an ensemble of robots to behave as if they were particles embedded in a rigid structure. The method was tested both using simulation and experimentation with a set of 3 robots. Results are presented which demonstrate that this approach is capable of achieving high precision movement which is fault tolerant and exhibits graceful degradation of performance. In addition, this algorithm does not require leader selection as in other cooperative robotic strategies. Finally, the method is highly flexible in the kinds of geometric formations that can be maintained.

this paper. Following a decentralized coordination architecture via the virtual structure approach, decentralized formation control strategies are introduced, which are appropriate when a large number of spacecraft are involved and/or stringent inter-spacecraft communication limitations are exerted. The e#ectiveness of the proposed control strategies is demonstrated through simulation results

This paper presents the coupled dynamics approach to executing Elementary Formation Maneuvers (EFM) for Hilare-type mobile robots. The concept of an EFM is presented. It is then shown that each of these EFMs posses a common mathematical structure and thus may be executed by the same type of robot control. We present three different EFM controls in this paper. The first puts feedback on the relative motion and the global motion of each robot. The second control adds inter-robot damping. And the third control uses saturated inputs on the relative motion and the global motion of each robot. We present simulation and hardware results for each of these controls. I. Introduction Cooperative robots can often be used to perform tasks that are too difficult for a single robot to perform alone. For example a group of robots can be used for moving large awkward objects [1], [2] or for moving a large number of objects [3]. In addition groups of robots can be used for terrain model acquisition [3]...