Further results on the stability of distance-based multi-robot formations

An important class of multi-robot formations is specified by desired distances between adjacent robots. In previous work, we showed that distance-based formations can be globally stabilized by negative gradient, potential field based, control laws, if and only if the formation graph is a tree. In this paper, we further examine the relation between the cycle space of the formation graph and the resulting equilibria of cyclic formations. In addition, the results are extended to the case of distance based formation control for nonholonomic agents. The results are supported through computer simulations.