Distributed Formation Control of Double-Integrator Vehicles with Disturbance Rejection

This paper presents the development of a robust distributed and cooperative control algorithm for formation tracking by teams of vehicles modeled as double integrators, seeking its application to multirotor vehicles. Consensus-based protocols are considered to achieve coordination between the vehicles in a distributed manner, in the sense that only local information is either exchanged or perceived. A consensus protocol for agents modeled as triple integrators is proposed, and explicit necessary and sufficient conditions for convergence are provided. As a corollary, these conditions are particularized for the case of double integrators, yielding necessary and sufficient conditions that reduce the conservatism of existing sufficient conditions presented in the literature. The effect of constant disturbances on the system is then described, and finally, the third-order consensus protocol is used to incorporate integral action in a formation tracking controller used for double integrator vehicles. Copyright (C) 2020 The Authors.