Distributed coordination for connectivity-preserving flocking without velocity measurement

In this paper, we address the design of decentralized controller for connectivity-preserving flocking without velocity measurement. An output vector based on neighbors' position information alone is constructed to replace the role of velocity, then some bounded attractive and repulsive forces are integrated together to design the controller. Under some initial conditions, we prove that the controller not only can synchronize all agents, but also can avoid collision as well as preserving connectivity among agents for all the time. Moreover, a leader-follower method is used to guide the group to a desired direction, where the neighboring relationship is totally determined by the distance.