Hybrid distance-angle rigidity theory with signed constraints and its applications to formation shape control

Abstract: In this paper, we develop a hybrid distance-angle rigidity theory that involves heterogeneous distances (or unsigned angles) and signed constraints for a framework in the 2-D and 3-D space. The new rigidity theory determines a (locally) unique formation shape up to a translation and a rotation by a set of distance and signed constraints, or up to a translation, a rotation and additionally a scaling factor by a set of unsigned angle and signed constraints. Under this new rigidity theory, we have a clue to resolve the flip (or reflection) and flex ambiguity for a target formation with hybrid distance-angle constraints. In particular, we can completely eliminate the ambiguity issues if formations are under a specific construction which is called \myemph{signed Henneberg construction} in this paper. We then apply the rigidity theory to formation shape control and develop a gradient-based control system that guarantees an exponential convergence close to a desired formation by inter-neighbor measurements. Several numerical simulations on formation shape control with hybrid distance-angle constraints are provided to validate the theoretical results.