Scaling up the formation of agents with heterogeneous sensing: mixed distance and bearing-only

Abstract: Unlike the case with identical neighboring agents whose actions are mirrored, the problem of distributed formation control design with heterogeneous sensing is not straightforward. In this paper, we consider the problem of distributed formation control where each agent can only control distances or bearings with its neighbors. We firstly develop a rigidity theory with heterogeneous sensing to ensure that the desired shape is well-posed. Secondly, we propose an iterative method that allows us to scale up the number of agents with heterogeneous sensing. Finally, numerical simulations show the effectiveness of our method.