An Optimal Tracking Approach to Formation Control of Nonlinear Multi-Agent Systems

Formation control of network of multi-agent systems with heterogeneous nonlinear dynamics is formulated as an optimal tracking problem and a decentralized controller is developed using the framework of “adaptive critics” to solve the optimal control problem. The reference signal is assumed available only in online implementation so its dynamics is unavailable for offline training of the neurocontroller. However, this issue is resolved by using a re-optimization of the network output through retraining of the neurocontroller online. Finally, the developed controller is applied to the formation control of multispacecraft orbiting the Earth at different orbits and seeking consensus on their position to dock. © 2012 by Ali Heydari & S. N. Balakrishnan