Formation Control Over Delayed Communication Networks

In this paper we address the problem of formation control of a group of robots that exchange information over a delayed communication network. We consider the Virtual Body Artificial Potential approach for stabilizing a group of robots at a desired formation. We show that it is possible to model the controlled system as a set of elements exchanging energy along a power preserving interconnection structure. We exploit the scattering framework to stabilize the robots in the desired formation independently of any delay in the communication of the information.