Bearing-Based Adaptive Cooperative Elliptical Circumnavigation Control for Multi-Agent Systems

This paper investigates the bearing-based cooperative circumnavigation control problems for multi-agent systems to enclose multiple static and moving targets on adaptively designed elliptical orbits. Firstly, a novel method based on estimated relative positions of agents with respect to targets is proposed to adaptively design the elliptical orbits to improve the adaptability of circumnavigation. The relative positions between agents and targets are estimated using only bearing measurements. A bearing-only circumnavigation control law is then proposed to enable a single agent to elliptically circumnavigate multiple targets on the adaptively designed orbit. For a group of agents, the control law for a single agent is extended by incorporating affine formation and collision avoidance. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the proposed orbit design method for enclosing targets and the convergence of the elliptical circumnavigation control laws are analyzed theoretically with their advantages verified by extensive simulations.