Swarm of robots flocking via the null-space-based behavioral control

Abstract

In this paper the problem of flocking together multiple robots is considered. The capability of grouping the robots is achieved resorting to a behavior-based approach, namely the Null-Space-based Behavioral (NSB) control. In this framework, the assigned mission is accomplished by defining very simple behaviors for each robot and properly arranging them in priority. In particular, flocking is pursued in a decentralized manner, i.e., the elementary behaviors of each robot are defined so they only need local information concerning robot's neighbors. To test the performance of the method, the flocking behavior is analyzed in different cases, namely, in presence of a static/moving rendezvous point, changing the size of the team and in presence/absence of measurement noise. Extensive simulations prove the effectiveness of the proposed technique.