Average Consensus Problem in Multi-Agent System in an Environment with Obstacles

Abstract

Multi-agent systems (MASs) are composed of multiple autonomous agents, and the overall behavior of an MAS is determined by the local interactions between its agents. In recent years, research on MASs aimed at their application in real-world environments has garnered considerable interest. In particular, consensus control in environments with constrained communication range of agents and obstacles is being extensively investigated. In this study, the consensus problem of MASs is examined by considering the effects of obstacles. In particular, an obstacle avoidance algorithm is developed as a control method for real-world autonomous machines such as autonomous mobile robots. In conventional control methods, obstacles are provided as coordinate points; however, in this study, they are introduced as variously shaped polygons. Furthermore, the graph topology is dynamic, which enables more realistic situations. Finally, a simulation study is performed, and the effectiveness of the developed algorithm for applying to the MAS consensus problem is demonstrated.