Dynamic Perimeter Surveillance of Multiagent Systems: A Swarm-Based Approach

In this article, a novel approach to generating kinematic state trajectories for single-integrator multiagent systems is developed with the aim of addressing cooperative surveillance tasks of rectangular areas. In particular, the key idea consists in driving the involved agents within a so-called containment region while simultaneously reaming outside a forbidden area around the prescribed target. As one of its main features, the proposed kinematics allows the whole multiagent configuration to rotate safely along the perimeter under both full and partial connectivity properties of the underlying topology graph. Steady-state conditions are analyzed and sufficient conditions are derived in terms of kinematic model parameters. Finally, a set of simulations is aimed at showing the capability of the kinematic descriptions to quickly buttonhole the containment region and to keep a rotating behavior around the target.