Flocking and rendezvous control protocols for nonlinear dynamical systems via hybrid stabilization of sets

In this paper, we develop a hybrid control framework for addressing flocking and rendezvous formation control protocols for general nonlinear dynamical systems using stabilization of sets. The proposed framework develops a novel class of fixed-order, energy-based hybrid controllers as a means for achieving cooperative control formations. These dynamic controllers combine a logical switching architecture with the continuous system dynamics to guarantee that a system generalized energy function whose zero level set characterizes a specified system formation is strictly decreasing across switchings. The proposed approach addresses general nonlinear dynamical systems and is not limited to systems involving double integrator dynamics for formation control.