Subframework-Based Rigidity Control in Multirobot Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a decentralized subframework approach for rigidity control in multirobot networks, enabling local rigidity assessment and communication-efficient control using only range measurements.

Contribution

It proposes a novel subframework-based method to express global rigidity as local properties and develops a decentralized controller that minimizes communication.

Findings

Rigidity eigenvalue degrades with increasing graph diameter.

Subframework rigidity metrics are effective for local assessment.

Controller converges in finite iterations.

Abstract

This paper presents an alternative approach to the study of distance rigidity in networks of mobile agents, based on a subframework scheme. The advantage of the proposed strategy lies in expressing framework rigidity, which is inherently global, as a set of local properties. Also, we show that a framework's normalized rigidity eigenvalue degrades as the graph's diameter increases. Thus, the rigidity eigenvalue associated to each subframework arise naturally as a local rigidity metric. A decentralized subframework-based controller for maintaining rigidity using only range measurements is developed, which is also aimed to minimize the network's communication load. Finally, we show that the information exchange required by the controller is completed in a finite number of iterations, indicating the convenience of the proposed scheme.