Distributed Optimal Solutions for Multiagent Pursuit-Evasion Games for Capture and Formation Control

In this article, distributed optimal solutions are designed for networked multiagent pursuit-evasion (MPE) games for capture and formation control. In the games, the pursuers aim to minimize the distance from their target evaders while the evaders attempt to maximize it, and at the same time, all the players desire to maintain cohesion with their teammates. The goals of agents are obviously reflected in the obtained optimal control strategies, which consist of an attracting term and/or a repelling term. Nash equilibrium is obtained by means of optimal strategies using the solutions of the Hamilton–Jacobi–Isaacs equations. Furthermore, three scenarios are considered in the MPE game: one-pursuer one-evader, multiple-pursuer one-evader, and multiple-pursuer multiple-evader, where sufficient conditions are given for pursuers in achieving exponential capture or formation control with ultimate zero or bounded errors. It is shown that the conditions depend on the structure of the communication graph, the parameters in the controllers, and the expected formation configurations. Finally, both simulations and real flight experiments successfully demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategies.