2017/09/29 by Galloway, Kevin S., Dey, Biswadip
#FOS: Computer and information sciences #FOS: Electrical engineering #Robotics (cs.RO) #Systems and Control (eess.SY) #electronic engineering #information engineering
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1709.10237
Motivated by station-keeping applications in various unmanned settings, this paper introduces a steering control law for a pair of agents operating in the vicinity of a fixed beacon in a three-dimensional environment. This feedback law is a modification of the previously studied three-dimensional constant bearing (CB) pursuit law, in the sense that it incorporates an additional term to allocate attention to the beacon. We investigate the behavior of the closed-loop dynamics for a two agent mutual pursuit system in which each agent employs the beacon-referenced CB pursuit law with regards to the other agent and a stationary beacon. Under certain assumptions on the associated control parameters, we demonstrate that this problem admits circling equilibria wherein the agents move on circular orbits with a common radius, in planes perpendicular to a common axis passing through the beacon. As the common radius and distances from the beacon are determined by choice of parameters in the feedback law, this approach provides a means to engineer desired formations in a three-dimensional setting.