Subframework-Based Rigidity Control in Multirobot Networks

Abstract

This paper presents an alternative approach to the study of distance rigidity in networks of mobile agents, based on a subframework scheme. The advantage of the proposed strategy lies in expressing framework rigidity, which is inherently global, as a set of local properties. Also, we show that a framework's normalized rigidity eigenvalue degrades as the graph's diameter increases. Thus, the rigidity eigenvalue associated to each subframework arise naturally as a local rigidity metric. A decentralized subframework-based controller for maintaining rigidity using only range measurements is developed, which is also aimed to minimize the network's communication load. Finally, we show that the information exchange required by the controller is completed in a finite number of iterations, indicating the convenience of the proposed scheme.