Flocking Control of Multi-agent Automated Vehicles for Curved Driving: A Polyline Leader Approach

Flocking control for multi-agent automated vehicles has attracted more research interest recently. However, one significant challenge is that the common use of point-shaped virtual leaders giving uniform navigations is unsuitable for vehicle motions with varying relative positions and orientations on multi-lane roads, particularly on curved sections. Considering the practical movements of multi-agent ground vehicles, this paper proposes a novel type of polyline-shaped leader(s) that aligns with multi-lane roads. Specifically, the polyline-shaped leader is composed of line segments that consider road curvatures, different lanes, and the flocking lattice configuration. Moreover, an artificial flow guidance method is applied to provide the direction of velocity references to ensure vehicles move within their respective lanes during the formed flocking. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach can successfully regulate vehicles to drive in their lanes in coordinated motion, which gives fewer structural deviations on curved roads compared to the case with the point-shaped leader.