Decentralized Control of Multi-Agent Escort Formation via Morse Potential Function

This paper presents a decentralized control algorithm for the Entrapment/Escorting Mission based on the Morse potential function. The entrapment/escorting mission tasks a multi-agent system with creating a formation around a mobile target. Applications of the mission include security awareness and military situations where an autonomous object of value must be guarded. The simulation consists of N robots that are initially located in random positions on a flat terrain. Agents are provided with the information on coordinates of their peers by a supervisor, which are used to generate artificial potential energies between robots and the target. The simulation confirms that robot positions achieve the lowest calculated Morse potential energy in the arena, and the resulting formation is centered on the target. Differential drive “e-puck” robots are used to experimentally validate the control’s application to nonholonomic vehicles, and proximity sensors are incorporated into the algorithm to accommodate for obstacles in the experimental arena.