Leader-Guided Time-Varying Formation Tracking Control for Multi-Agent Systems under Switching Network Topologies

This paper presents a framework designed to address the challenges of runtime formation switching and collision avoidance for multi-agent systems (MASs) operating under undirected and switching network topologies. Within this framework, we investigate time-varying formation tracking (TVFT) control for linear multi-agent systems in the presence of actuator failures and maneuvering leader. One of the main challenges in designing a formation tracking controller is the leader's independent selection of diverse time-varying formation (TVF) configurations for the followers without pre-specifying them, with each configuration lasting for specific durations. To address this challenge, we introduce a set of distributed observers, each concurrently estimating these formation configurations for its assigned follower. Using these estimates and the collision-avoidance algorithm, the proposed controller enables the followers to synchronize with the leader's chosen runtime formations, all without any collisions. Moreover, uniform ultimate boundedness (UUB) of followers' collective formation tracking error is rigorously guaranteed using Lyapunov's stability theory. Finally, a simulation example illustrating the results is given.