1278 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CYBERNETICS, VOL. 50, NO.

3, MARCH 2020

Hierarchical Distributed Control for Global Network

Integrity Preservation in Multirobot Systems
Pham Duy Hung , Tran Quang Vinh, and Trung Dung Ngo, Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract—In this paper, we address a novel hierarchical Nic Set of robot i’s critical robots.
distributed control (HDC) strategy for networked multirobot Nin Set of robot i’s noncritical robots.
systems (MRSs). This strategy is developed on a geometric rij Relative distance between robots i and j.
approach without requiring estimation of algebraic connectiv-
ity. It is originally based upon behavioral control, but upgraded eij Connectivity between robots i and j.
by distributed node control with a mobility constraint for global ε, εi Critical tolerance and minimum tolerance.
network integrity preservation and distributed connectivity con- Bi Restricted area of robot i.
trol with a local connectivity minimization strategy for network Ti Group of triangle topologies.
coverage expansion. Thanks to properties of HDC, a networked Ki Group of k-connected topologies.
MRS is capable of achieving high performance with cooperative g
tasks. We have examined and evaluated our proposed method in Ni Set of robot i’s neighbors in a group of local
both simulations with up to 100 simulated robots and real-world connectivity topologies.
experiments with up to 14 real robots. Rni Sets of robot i’s redundant critical robots in a group
Index Terms—Behavioral control, distributed connectivity of local connectivity topologies.
control, distributed node control, global network integrity preser- RnTi Set of robot i’s redundant critical robots in groups Ti .
vation, hierarchical distributed control (HDC), local connectivity RnK i Set of robot i’s redundant critical robots in groups Ki .
minimization strategy, multirobot systems (MRSs). −
→vi Velocity vector of robot i.
−
→v ci Cohesion vector.
−
→v si Separation vector.
−
→v ai Alignment vector.
N OMENCLATURE
vimax Maximum velocity of robot i.
N Number of robots in a swarm.
di Assigned destination of robot i inside Si .
λ2 Connectivity property of a robot network.
ρij Consensus signal between robots i and j.
Lc Communication level of a robot in the network.
Iij Path between robots i and j.
Iij Length of the shortest path between robots i and j.
ui Control input of robot i.
xi Position of robot i at time t.
xi Run-step of robot i in a time interval t.
rc Sensing and communication range of robot i. I. I NTRODUCTION
Si Sensing area of robot i.
NETWORKED multirobot system (MRS) has been a
Sci
Sni
Critical area of robot i.
Noncritical area of robot i. A very active research field over the last few decades due to
its challenges and potential applications. It consists of mobile
Sai Obstacle avoidance area of robot i.
robots that cooperatively work through information exchange
Ni Set of robot i’s neighboring robots.
in order to achieve a common goal, thus preserving global
Manuscript received March 19, 2018; revised December 9, 2018 network integrity through all robots over time is an important
and February 18, 2019; accepted April 16, 2019. Date of publication research topic of this field. This paper focuses on designing a
May 16, 2019; date of current version January 21, 2020. This work
was supported in part by the Natural Science and Engineering Research novel distributed control strategy to guarantee global network
Council of Canada (NSERC) under Grant RGPIN-2017-05446, in part by the integrity preservation of mobile robots over time while they are
Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS) performing their cooperative tasks toward an assigned ultimate
under Grant IT11073, and in part by the Department of Natural Defence
of Canada-Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (DND-IDEaS) goal.
under Grant IDEaS-1-1A-CP0726. This paper was recommended by Associate Recent research of distributed control for MRS can be
Editor K.-S. Hwang. (Corresponding author: Trung Dung Ngo.) roughly categorized in three streams: 1) behavior-based con-
P. D. Hung and T. Q. Vinh are with the Department of Electronics and
Computer Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Hanoi 084, trol [1]–[11]; 2) artificial potential force field [12]–[23]; and
Vietnam (e-mail: hungpd@vnu.edu.vn; vinhtq@vnu.edu.vn). 3) graph theory-based algebraic connectivity [24]–[31].
T. D. Ngo is with the More-Than-One Robotics Laboratory, University Naturally inspired behavioral control for MRS has been first
of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4R3, Canada (e-mail:
dungnt@ieee.org). seen in the bird-flocking algorithm with only simple rules
This paper has supplementary downloadable material available at of cohesion, separation, and alignment. Behavioral control
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org, provided by the author. was introduced by Reynolds [1] and further extended in [2].
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available
online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Parker [3] introduced heuristic approaches to the design of
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TCYB.2019.2913326 interaction rules and emergent behaviors in the behavior-based
2168-2267 c 2019 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.

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HUNG et al.: HDC FOR GLOBAL NETWORK INTEGRITY PRESERVATION IN MRSs
control scheme. Olfati-Saber and Murray [4] developed dis-
tributed flocking control using navigational feedback for all
mobile robots with static and dynamic leaders in the absence
and presence of obstacles. Jadbabaie et al. [5] provided a proof
of convergence of distributed consensus and coordination of
multiple robots in a noise-free case by modeling changes in
topology without considering the dependence of switching
motion. Marino et al. [6] proposed the patrolling algorithm
based on the high abstraction level of behavioral control with-
out using communication, which was also upgraded in [8].
Antonelli et al. [7] approached the problem of robot flock-
ing using the behavior-based control architecture in which
robot behaviors are predefined to achieve the assigned mission.
Xu et al. [9] proposed the behavior-based control architec-
ture for formation generation and control during navigation.
Zuo et al. [10] proposed behaviors of multirobot formation
using reinforcement learning. Robots select different behav-
iors in various different situations. Fernandez-Gauna et al. [11]
presented a distributed round-robin Q-learning for cooperative
systems in which each agent selects actions according to a
defined order.
The artificial potential field method synthesizes the attrac-
tive and repulsive forces on mobile robots to drive them toward
goals without colliding with obstacles. Howard et al. [12]
deployed large-scale mobile sensors in a distributed manner
to maximize the coverage area of the network by following
the negative gradient of the artificial potential force fields.
Örgen et al. [13] introduced a modeling method of the
mobile sensor network moving in a fixed formation along
the estimated gradient in a scalar distributed field. Zou and
Chakrabarty [14] proposed virtual attractive and repulsive
forces for deployment and coverage enhancement in cluster-
based mobile sensor networks. Spears et al. [15] gave a new
potential force field inspired from physics laws to maintain
the relative localization of mobile robots in either square
or hexagon formations. Ji and Egerstedt [16] developed a
distributed control system with unbounded potential forces
in order to maintain connectivity of a pair of robots and
to provide the local gradient incorporated in the link addi-
tion function of the connectivity graphs. Dimarogonas and
Kyriakopoulos [17] modeled network connectivity by combin-
ing a repulsive force and an attractive force. The properties of
local gradient and switching of the network connectivity were
used to develop the distributed control for the link addition-
based graph partitioning algorithm. Mikkelsen et al. [20]
released a new kind of potential force field based on a prob-
abilistic model using empirical statistics of infrared commu-
nication to maintain relative localization for robot formation.
Ajorlou et al. [18] proposed distributed control for connectiv-
ity preservation using the potential function. Julian et al. [19]
developed the gradient-based controller to drive the robots to
measure the environment conditions and maximize observation
information by sequential Bayesian filters. Naderi et al. [21]
proposed a fast centralized method based on the artificial
potential field applied to drive the leader of the MRS toward
its target on domes. Williams and Sukhatme [22] proposed
a switching interaction model and potential field controls for
connectivity maintenance and maximization under local degree
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1279
constraints. An extended version of this method for maintain-
ing the global connectivity of the MRS is presented in [23].
Distributed estimation and control of graph connectivity
are popular approaches to guarantee connectivity maintenance
of MRS. The estimation of algebraic connectivity of the
graph—equivalent to the second-smallest eigenvalue of the
Laplacian matrix—is highly exploited for connectivity control.
Yang et al. [24] used a decentralized power iteration algo-
rithm to estimate the Fiedler eigenvector applied to the control
law for connectivity maintenance in a distributed manner.
Sabattini et al. [25], [26] exploited the framework to develop
a gradient-based control strategy using energy functions for
maintaining the algebraic connectivity. Giordano et al. [27]
developed a gradient-based decentralized controller for global
connectivity maintenance by using a scalar potential function
of the second smallest eigenvalue. The gradient-based con-
troller is used in [28] for the multitarget exploration problem.
Cai et al. [29] proposed a unified control framework to main-
tain and control connectivity of the MRS using methods
in [24] and [26]. Gasparri et al. [30] introduced a distributed
bounded control law for global connectivity maintenance of
the MRS in which mobile robots move toward a given bounded
collective control objective. Panerati et al. [31] considered
robust connectivity maintenance control for fallible robots.
In summary, global network integrity preservation for MRS
was not mentioned in [1]–[9], [12]–[15], and [19]–[21] while
the others present connectivity maintenance in two typical
approaches: 1) local [16]–[18] and 2) global [22]–[31] connec-
tivity maintenance. The local connectivity maintenance means
that connectivity between two robots is maintained over time
if they are connected at the initial stage. In the global connec-
tivity maintenance, robots are capable of flexibly adding and
deleting links while the global network integrity of robots is
preserved.
To the best of our knowledge, most of the aforemen-
tioned distributed control for global connectivity mainte-
nance [22]–[31] requires estimation of algebraic connectivity
and applying spatial-potential-based interaction for the con-
nectivity maintenance of robots. The algebraic connectivity
estimation procedure proposed in [24] requests that each robot
update connectivities of the global network through exchang-
ing information with its neighbors. This procedure fully relies
on intercommunication between the robots and is very time
consuming (a few seconds for only six robots as in [24]) in
order to obtain the algebraic connectivity that is used as the
input for distributed control of every robot. This assumption is
not realistic to apply in the real system, especially a large-scale
network of mobile robots.
In this paper, we present a novel distributed control method
based on a geometric approach for controlling the global
network integrity preservation of MRS. Instead of requiring
estimation of the second smallest eigenvalue and its cor-
responding eigenvector as was done in previous works, a
hierarchical distributed control (HDC) is an integration of dis-
tributed node control and distributed connectivity control. The
distributed node control is developed under a mobility con-
straint to guarantee global network integrity preservation of
MRS while the distributed connectivity control is built up for
1280
Fig. 1. Robot i’s sensing range is separated into two areas: the critical area
Sci and the noncritical area Sni covering the obstacle avoidance area Sai . Robot
i has Nic = {j} and Nin = {k, m}.
local connectivity minimization strategy, allowing the MRS to
expand its global network coverage. The HDC is capable of:
1) preserving global network integrity of MRS over time
while robots perform its assigned task in cooperation;
2) expanding global network coverage of MRS by using the
local connectivity minimization strategy, allowing the
MRS to achieve the highest performance of cooperative
tasks.
This paper is a comprehensive extension of the preliminary
version presented in [32]–[35]. The contributions of this paper
are claimed as follows.
1) We developed an HDC based on the geometric approach
for preserving the global network integrity of MRS
without requiring algebraic connectivity estimation. The
HDC results in integrating a mobility constraint for
preserving global network integrity and local connec-
tivity minimization strategy, enabling the MRS to be
adaptable to any network topology for network coverage
expansion.
2) We investigated and evaluated the effectiveness of the
HDC in both simulations and real-world experiments to
confirm that the HDC is potentially applicable in the
real world.
In comparison with our previous works [32]–[35], we
completed system modeling and synthesis of the HDC for
preserving and expanding the network of MRS. It was clearly
explained with detailed information on the mobility con-
straint based on only local connectivities on each robot for
global network integrity preservation and local connectiv-
ity minimization strategy with an optimal rule for removing
redundant critical connectivities formed in local topologies in
order to expand network coverage. We extensively investigated
and evaluated the effectiveness of our proposed method in both
simulation and real-world experiments with detailed analysis
and discussion.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows.
Section II provides preliminary knowledge used to build up
the HDC. The HDC and its characteristics are described in
Section III. The results of simulations and real-world experi-
ments are demonstrated and discussed in Section IV. Finally,
the conclusions are shown in Section V.
II. BACKGROUND
A. Network Model
A networked MRS consists of N mobile robots in which
each robot i ∈ N is capable of measuring relative localization
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CYBERNETICS, VOL. 50, NO. 3, MARCH 2020
of its nearest neighbors Ni within a disc-like sensing area Si
with radius rc and carrying out peer-to-peer communication
with robots inside Si . Let xi and ui be the position and velocity
of robot i ∈ N, respectively. MRS is described by a single-
integrator kinematic model as follows:
ẋi = ui , i ∈ N. (1)
Robot i’s sensing range Si is divided into two areas as illus-
trated in Fig. 1: 1) critical area Sci inside the annulus circle
between two radii rc and rn , where ε  rc − rn > 0 is a
constant, so-called critical tolerance and 2) noncritical area
Sni inside the circle with the radius rn covering an obstacle
avoidance area Sai with the radius range ra < rn , Sai ⊂ Sni .
A network of mobile robots is modeled by an undirected
graph G = (V, E) with a vertex set V = {1, . . . , N} indexed by
a set of robots and a set of connectivity edges E = {eij | i, j ∈
V, i = j}. The graph G can be represented by an adjacency
matrix A. It is a symmetric matrix in which each element eij
is defined as the weight of the edge between the robots i and j,
and presented as follows:

1 rij ≤ rc
eij = eji  (2)
0 rij > rc
where rij  xi − xj  is the relative distance between robots
i and j.
In graph G, two robots i and j are either directly connected
if eij = 1 or indirectly connected if there exists a path Iij
between them as described as follows:
 
Iij = n1 , . . . , np | i = n1 , j = np , enm nm+1 = 1, ∀m ∈ [1, p) .
(3)
Let Iij be the length of the shortest path between robots
i and j, defined as the least number of robots on the path.
Let Lc be the communication level defined as the maximum
number of robots that a packet passes through from source
to destination, which is preset on each robot as a timeout of
communication. Two robots i and j can only communicate
together if Iij ≤ Lc .
The connectivity property of the network can be identified
through the second smallest eigenvalue λ2 of the Laplacian
matrix of the graph G. The global network is considered as
being connected if λ2 > 0. Connectivity strength is propor-
tional to the value of λ2 —the higher the value, the stronger
the connectivity graph. Note that we only use λ2 to verify
whether the global network integrity is preserved as illustrated
in Fig. 14 but do not use it for controlling network connectivity
in the HDC.
In a distributed control scheme, each robot is aware of its
local connectivity graph formed with its direct neighbors rep-
resented by a subadjacency matrix Asi as illustrated in Fig. 2.
Definition 1 (Critical Robot and Connectivity): Robot j is
called a critical robot of robot i if xj ∈ Sci and k : xk ∈ Sni ∩Snj .
Robot i’s critical robot set is presented as follows:
 
Nic  j | xj ∈ Sci , k : xk ∈ Sni ∩ Snj . (4)
eij , j ∈ Nic is called a critical connectivity.
HUNG et al.: HDC FOR GLOBAL NETWORK INTEGRITY PRESERVATION IN MRSs 1281

Fig. 3. Variance of the relative distance between two robots i and j after a
time interval t.

If (8) is applied to (9), we obtain rij (t + t) ≤ rc ; that

is, eij is maintained at time-step t + t. This completes the
proof.
Proposition 2 (Global Network Integrity Preservation):
The global network integrity of MRS is preserved if every
Fig. 2. Example of an adjacency matrix of a networked MRS. Robot 4 robot i has run-step xi , satisfying the following constraint:
(green) has a subgraph adjacency matrix (As4 ) established by robot 4 and its ⎧ε
neighbors {2, 5, 12}. Robot 5 (magenta) has a subgraph adjacency matrix ⎨ Nic = ∅
(As5 ) established by robot 5 and its neighbors {4, 6, 7}. These robots have
xi ≤ ε2i , where εi = minc (rc − rij ) ≤ ε. (10)
a common critical connectivity e45 ; thus, their subgraph adjacency matrices ⎩ Nic = ∅ j∈Ni
intersect at the rows and columns 4 and 5. 2
Proof: Consider the connectivity between robots i and j ∈ Ni
Definition 2 (Noncritical Robot and Connectivity): Robot j after each run-step. According to Definitions 1 and 2, we have
is called a noncritical robot of robot i if j ∈ Ni but j ∈
/ Nic . Ni = Nic ∪ Nin1 ∪ Nin2 , so there are three cases considered as
Robot i’s noncritical robot set is presented as follows: follows.
  1) j ∈ Nin1 : According to (6), j ∈ Nin1 ⇔ xj ∈ Sni . It means
Nin  j ∈ Ni \ Nic = Nin1 ∪ Nin2 (5)
that
where
  rc − rij > ε. (11)
Nin1 = j | xj ∈ Sni (6)
  If robots i and j satisfy the constraint in Proposition 2,
n2
Ni = j | xj ∈ Si , ∃k : xk ∈ Si ∩ Sj .
c n n
(7)
we have
eij , j ∈ Nin is called a noncritical connectivity. ε εi ε
xi ≤ or xi ≤ ≤ (12)
Remark 1 (Symmetry Property): Definitions 1 and 2 2 2 2
exhibit a symmetrical property of critical/noncritical robots ε εj ε
xj ≤ or xj ≤ ≤ . (13)
that if robot j is a critical/noncritical robot of robot i, 2 2 2
robot i is also considered a critical/noncritical robot of Applying (11) into (12) and (13), we have xi ≤ (rc −
robot j. rij )/2 and xj ≤ (rc −rij )/2. According to Proposition 1,
The objective of this paper is to identify the mobility con- connectivity eij is maintained.
straint of robot i’s control input ui based on its local connectiv- 2) j ∈ Nin2 : According to (7), j ∈ Nin2 ⇔ xj ∈ Sci and
ities only in order to preserve global network integrity of MRS, ∃k : xk ∈ Sni ∩ Snj , that is, k ∈ Nin1 and k ∈ Njn1 . Similar
guaranteeing that any robots i, j ∈ N are always connected to the first case, the connectivities eik and ejk are main-
either directly by eij or indirectly through the path Iij . tained. Therefore, robots i and j are connected together
indirectly through intermediate robot k and independent
B. Global Network Integrity Preservation to the connectivity eij .
In this section, we present a bounded constraint for the 3) j ∈ Nic : If robots i and j satisfy the mobility constraint
control input ui , guaranteeing global network integrity preser- in Proposition 2, we have
vation of MRS. Let xi (t), xi (t + t), and rij (t), rij (t + t) εi εj
be the position of robot i and the relative distance between xi ≤ , and xj ≤ . (14)
2 2
robots i and j at consecutive time-steps t and t + t, respec-
tively. xi = xi (t + t) − xi (t) is a run-step of robot i in a In addition
time-step t. We release the following propositions. εi = minc (rc − rik ) ⇒ εi ≤ rc − rij , ∀j ∈ Nic (15)
Proposition 1 (Mobility Constraint for Connectivity k∈Ni
Maintenance): A connectivity eij between two robots i and j εj = minc (rc − rjk ) ⇒ εj ≤ rc − rij , i ∈ Njc . (16)
k∈Nj
is maintained if their run-step satisfies the following condition:
rc − rij rc − rij
xi ≤ , and xj ≤ . (8) Applying (15) and (16) into (14), we gain xi ≤ (rc −
2 2 rij )/2 and xj ≤ (rc −rij )/2. According to Proposition 1,
Proof: Considering the movement of robots i and j between connectivity eij is maintained.
two consecutive time-steps t and t +t as shown in Fig. 3, we Hence, after each run-step x, robot i maintains connectiv-
have −→r ij (t+t) = xj (t+t)−xi (t+t) = − →xj + −
→
r ij −−
→
xi . ity with robot j either directly if j ∈ Nin1 or j ∈ Nic , or indirectly
The length of sum of vectors is less than or equal to the sum through intermediate robot k ∈ Nin1 if j ∈ Nin2 . It means that
of their lengths, so we obtain the global network integrity of the MRS is preserved. This
rij (t + t) ≤ rij + xj + xi . (9) completes the proof.

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1282 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CYBERNETICS, VOL. 50, NO. 3, MARCH 2020

In summary, the global network integrity of MRS is 2) Group Ki consists of consecutive adjacent k-connected
preserved if the control input ui is limited by the bounded topologies only. This group has the following properties:
constraint vimax as follows:
egm gm+1 = 0 ∧ Igm gm+1 \ {gm , i, gm+1 }
⎧ ε
⎨ Nic = ∅ = ∅, ∀m ∈ [1, q) (21)
vimax = 2t , where εi = minc (rc − rij ). (17)
⎩ εi N c = ∅ j∈Ni
i
2t
C. Local Connectivity Topologies and Minimization Strategy
If Proposition 2 is satisfied, critical robots of robot i may act
like “anchors,” preventing robot i from moving out of sensing
area of its critical robots toward its desired target due to mobil-
ity constraints as shown in (17)—which is considered as a type
of local minima. When robot i falls into a local minimum, its
workspace is limited in a restricted area as follows.
Proposition 3 (Restricted Area): If all critical connectivities
of robot i are maintained, robot i’s workspace is limited in a
restricted area Bi as follows:
indirectly connected through a path Ijk ≡ Igm1 gm2 = ∅
Bi = Sj , where X = Nic . (18)
j∈X
Proof: If robot i’s critical connectivities are maintained, xi ∈
Sj , ∀j ∈ X. That is, xi ∈ Bi . This completes the proof.
There exist redundant critical connectivities of robot i in
dynamic topologies of MRS, thus removing redundant critical
connectivities allows the workspace Bi to be expanded while
the global network integrity is still preserved. There are three
typical local connectivity topologies as shown in Fig. 4 estab-
lished by robot i and its critical robots sorted out in a cyclic
order as follows.
Definition 3 (Triangle Topology): Robot i and its pair of
two neighboring robots (j, k) are formed in a triangle topology
if j ∈ Nic , k ∈ Nic , and ejk = 1.
Definition 4 (k-Connected Topology): Robot i and its pair
of two neighboring robots (j, k) are formed in a k-connected
topology if j ∈ Nic and/or k ∈ Nic , and (ejk = 0) ∧ (∃(Ijk \
{j, i, k}) = ∅).
Definition 5 (One-Connected Topology): Robot i and its
neighboring robot j are formed in a one-connected topology if
(Iij \ {i, j}) = ∅.
The one-connected topology is a minimized topology and
must be maintained for the global network integrity while tri-
angle and k-connected topologies containing redundant critical
connectivities should be minimized to let robot i escape from
local minimum.
Assume that the communication level Lc = N, so robot i is
capable of identifying all of its local connectivity topologies.
Triangle and k-connected topologies of robot i are com-
bined into two typical groups of local connectivity topologies:
g
1) group Ti and 2) group Ki . Let Ni = {g1 , . . . , gq } be a set
of robot i’s neighboring robots in cyclic order in which q is
g
the size of Ni . The groups can be defined as follows.
1) Group Ti contains consecutive adjacent triangle topolo-
gies. This group has the following properties:
egm gm+1 = 1, ∀m ∈ [1, q)
g   we have ejk = 0, where k = {g1 , gq }. There are two cases
j ∈ Ni \ Ni : ejk = 1, k = g1 , gq .
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g  
j ∈ Ni \ Ni : (ejk = 1) ∧ Ijk \ {j, i, k} = ∅
 
k = g1 , gp . (22)
Note that a group containing both Ti and Ki becomes Ki if
Ti is minimized as explained and proven in Proposition 6.
g
Proposition 4 (Connectivity in Ni ): In robot i’s group of
g
local connectivity topologies, any two robots j, k ∈ Ni are
connected directly or indirectly.
Proof: Assume that j = gm1 and k = gm2 , where 1 ≤ m1 <
m2 ≤ q. We consider two cases as follows.
1) Group Ti : Equation (19) is satisfied, so egm gm+1 =
1, ∀m ∈ [m1 , m2 ). If m2 = m1 + 1, robots j and k are
directly connected by ejk ≡ egm gm+1 . Otherwise, they are
as follows:

Igm1 gm2 = gm1 , . . . , gm2 | egm gm+1 = 1
∀m ∈ [m1 , m2 )}. (23)
2) Group Ki : Equation (21) is satisfied, so robots j and k are
connected through a path Ijk ≡ Igm1 gm2 = ∅ combined
by the paths Igm gm+1 \ {gm , i, gm+1 } = ∅, ∀m ∈ [m1 , m2 )
as follows:
Igm 1 gm 2 = · Igm gm+1 \ {gm , i, gm+1 } (24)
m∈[m1 ,m2 )
where the operator ∪· is defined as A ∪· B ⇔ (A ∪ B) ∧
(A ∧ B). If (A = ∅) ∨ (B = ∅), then A ∪· B = ∅.
This completes the proof.
Proposition 5 (Removing Redundant Connectivities): In
robot i’s group of local connectivity topologies, if robot i only
g
maintains one connectivity eig , g ∈ Ni and removes the other
connectivities as its redundant links, then robot i is still con-
g
nected with robot gm ∈ Ni , gm = g through a path Iigm .
g
Proof: According to Proposition 4, robots g , gm ∈ Ni ,
are connected either directly by eg gm or indirectly through
Ig gm = {g , . . . , gm }. Moreover, eig is maintained, so robot i
is connected with robot gm through a path Iigm = {i, , m}
or Iigm = {i, g , . . . , gm }, respectively. This completes the
proof.
Minimization of a group of local connectivity topologies
on a robot is to remove its redundant critical connectivities as
illustrated in Fig. 5. It is carried out in two consecutive stages:
1) minimization of groups Ti using direct communication of
the nearest neighbors and 2) minimization of groups Ki using
indirect communication with the communication level Lc .
Proposition 6 (Minimization of Group Ti ): In a group Ti , if
all redundant connectivities are removed, the unique main-
g
tained connectivity eig , g ∈ Ni is formed in either a
one-connected topology or a k-connected topology.
g
Proof: Group Ti satisfies (19) and (20). Letting j ∈ Ni \ Ni ,
(19)
(20) considered as follows.
HUNG et al.: HDC FOR GLOBAL NETWORK INTEGRITY PRESERVATION IN MRSs 1283

Fig. 4. Local connectivity topologies: robot i is restricted in an area limited by the green boundary, so it cannot reach destination di . (a) Triangle topology.
(b) k-connected topology. (c) One-connected topology.

Fig. 5. Minimization of local connectivity topologies. (a) Robot i = 1 has two groups Ti {2, 3, 4}, {9, 10, 11} and a group Ki {4, 6, 9}. (b) After minimization
of triangle topologies, group {2, 3, 4} and its adjacent k-connected topology {4, 6} are combined into a k-connected topology {2, 6}. Group {9, 10, 11} and its
adjacent k-connected topology {6, 9} are combined into a k-connected topology {6, 11}, so that robot i has a group Ki {2, 6, 11}. (c) Group Ki is minimized
to become a one-connected topology ei2 . In all the figures, robot i is blocked off in the area bounded by green boundary. Robot i’s workspace is expanded
when the topologies are minimized.

1) ∃Ijk \ {j, i, k} = ∅ (Ti Adjacent to Ki ):
a) If k ≡ g : According to Definition 4, robot i and
a pair (j, k) ≡ (j, g ) are formed in a k-connected
topology.
b) If k = g : Robots k and g are connected through
Ikg \ {k, i, g } = ∅ (refer to Proposition 4), so
Ijg \ {j, i, g } = Ijk \ {j, i, k} ∪· Ikg \ {k, i, g } = ∅.
According to Definition 4, robot i and a pair (j, g )
are formed in a k-connected topology.
2) Ijk \ {j, i, k} = ∅ (Only Ti Exists): Ijk \ {j, i, k} = ∅
⇔ Ijg \ {j, i, g } = ∅: it means that Iig \ {j, i, g } = ∅.
According to Definition 5, robots i and g are formed
in a one-connected topology.
Hence, the group Ti is minimized to either a k-connected
topology if Ti is adjacent to Ki or a one-connected topology
if only Ti exists, which is not adjacent to Ki . This completes
the proof.
After minimization of groups Ti , all local connectivity
topologies of robot i only exist in k-connected topologies
and/or one-connected topologies. Consecutively, we consider
the minimization of group Ki .
Proposition 7 (Minimization of Group Ki ): In a group Ki ,
if all redundant connectivities are removed, the unique main-
g with X = Ni . After minimization, X = {j}, so Bi is expanded,
tained connectivity eig , g ∈ Ni is formed in a one-connected
topology.
Proof: Group Ki satisfies (21) and (22). Because all triangle
g
topologies were minimized, any robot j ∈ Ni \ Ni has ejk = 0
and Ijk \ {j, i, k} = ∅, k = {g1 , gq } ⇔ Ijg \ {j, i, g } = ∅.
It means that Iig \ {i, g } = ∅. According to Definition 5,
robots i and g are formed in a one-connected topology. This
completes the proof.
In short, after removing redundant critical connectivities
formed in groups Ti and Ki by applying Propositions 6 and 7,
robot i has only one-connected topologies and it successfully
escaped from the local minima. The minimization must be per-
formed so that the workspace Bi is possibly expanded in the
best way. Hence, we give a rule to identify redundant critical
connectivities as follows.
Proposition 8 (Connectivity Removal Rule): In each robot
i’s group of local connectivity topologies, if robot i only main-
tains one critical connectivity eij satisfying (25), robot i’s
g
workspace blocked off by critical robots in Ni is expanded,
allowing robot i to move closer to a desired target di
j
θi = ming (θik ) (25)
k∈Ni
where θik = (− →
v ai , −
→r ik ) and −
→
v ai as robot i’s velocity vector
toward target di .
Proof: Robot i is blocked off in Bi as described in (18)
g
Bi → Sj . Moreover, the critical connectivity eij satisfies (25),
so rjdi = ming (rkdi ). It means that Sj is closer to robot i’s target.
k∈Ni
This completes the proof.

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1284 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CYBERNETICS, VOL. 50, NO. 3, MARCH 2020

Algorithm 1: HDC 2) Level 2—Global Network Integrity Preservation

Input: Ni , α, β, γ , ε, t Control: Level 2 is added on the top of level 1 to keep all
Output: − →vi of the robots connected robustly through the network. Level 2
ε
Initialize: vimax = uses the mobility constraint with the control input ui , seen in
−
→ 2t
v = α−
i
→
v c + β−
i
→v s + γ− →
va
i i
(17), to preserve the global network integrity of the MRS.
Nic = {j | xj ∈ Sci , k : xk ∈ Sni ∩ Snj } When robot i has at least one critical robot Nic = ∅, robot
if Nic  = ∅ then i’s velocity is restricted by vimax = (εi /2t).
if ∃Ti then
Calculate RnTi by Eq. (30)
B. Distributed Connectivity Control
Rni ← RnTi
The distributed node control strategy guarantees that all
if (Nic \ Rni  ≥ 2) ∧ (∃Ki ) then
of the robots are well connected in terms of global network
Calculate RnK i by Eq. (31)
Rni ← RnTi ∪ RnK
integrity. However, preserving all critical connectivities of a
i
robot i causes its workspace to be limited in Bi as shown
Nic ← Nic \ Rni
εi = minc (rc − rij )
in Proposition 3. It is possibly expanded as pointed out in
j∈Ni Proposition 8 after minimization of redundant critical connec-
εi
vimax = tivities by applying Propositions 6 and 7 while the global
2t network integrity of the MRS is still preserved. Because
if vi > vimax then
−
→ vimax −
→ the critical connectivity has a symmetry property as shown
vi← − vi
→v i in Remark 1, robots must negotiate through information
exchange in order to make consensus decisions in removing
redundant critical connectivities.
The distributed connectivity control strategy is implemented
III. H IERARCHICAL D ISTRIBUTED C ONTROL on the top of the distributed node control architecture in order
In this section, we present the HDC strategy consisting of to allow robot i to expand its workspace through minimization
a distributed node control for mobility control and global of redundant critical connectivities formed in groups of local
network integrity preservation and distributed connectivity connectivity topologies. It includes two consecutive stages as
control for network coverage expansion. The HDC is presented follows.
in Algorithm 1 and described as follows. 1) Level 3—Minimization of Triangle Topologies: Level 3
is added on the top of level 2 and triggered when robot i has
A. Distributed Node Control at least one triangle topology. It allows robot i to minimize
1) Level 1—Behavioral Control: Inspired from behavioral redundant critical connectivities formed in group Ti as shown
control in [1] and [2], robot i’s velocity vector is synthe- in Proposition 6 by using direct communication to make a
sized by cohesion velocity −→v ci , driving the robot closer to its consensus decision between robot i and its neighboring robots.
neighbors; separation velocity − →v si controls the robot to avoid By applying Proposition 8, a set of redundant critical robots
colliding with other robots; and alignment velocity − →
v ai steers in group Ti is presented as follows:
   
the robot toward the desired target
g j
−
→ RnTi = j ∈ Ni | θi > ming (θik ) ∧ (ρij = 1)
v = α− →v c + β− →v s + γ−→ (30)
i i va i (26)i k∈Ni
where α, β, and γ are the factors used to adjust cohesion, where ρij = ρji is a consensus signal between robots i and j.
separation, and alignment for the overall behavior of robot i. Its value is 1 if robot j agrees with robot i; otherwise, it is
Separation Velocity Is Represented as: zero.
−
→ 
vs=− i w e−ζ (rij −ra ) r̂ij (27) ij
After minimization, if robot i has only one-connected topol-
j∈Nia ogy, that is, Nic \ RnTi  = 1, its workspace is expanded closer
to the desired target. Otherwise, level 4 is activated for the
where Nia = {j | xj ∈ Si \ Sai }, ζ is a predefined constant, and minimization of k-connected topologies.
j
wij = σ +(1−σ )[(1+cos(ϕi ))/2] represents the potential force 2) Level 4—Minimization of k-Connected Topologies:
j
field for collision avoidance, where ϕi is the angle between the Level 4 is added on the top of level 3 in order to allow robot i
heading of robot i and r ij , and σ ∈ [0, 1], r̂ij = [(−
−
→ →
r ij )/rij ]. to minimize group Ki by removing redundant critical connec-
Cohesion Velocity Is Represented as: tivities as shown in Proposition 7. Level 4 is triggered when
−
→ − →
vc= r (28) robot i is constrained in either k-connected or one-connected
i ij
topologies Nic \ RnTi  ≥ 2; or in other words, robot i can-
j∈Niā
not move toward its target when triggered at level 3. It uses
where Niā = {j | xj ∈ Si \ Sai }. a peer-to-peer communication protocol of the global network
Alignment Velocity Is Represented as: with communication level Lc to identify whether critical robots
g
−
→ in Ni = Nic \ RnTi are formed in k-connected topologies, and
v a = r̂ i idi (29)
then make a consensus decision to remove redundant critical
where r̂idi = [(−
→
r idi )/ridi ] is a vector toward target di . connectivities. The topology is considered to be a k-connected

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HUNG et al.: HDC FOR GLOBAL NETWORK INTEGRITY PRESERVATION IN MRSs
TABLE I
S YSTEM PARAMETER S ETTING
topology if a packet traverses from one branch, through the
network, and comes back to the other branch of the topology. If
the packet does not come back after a timeout, robot i belongs
to one-connected topologies. According to Proposition 8, a set
of redundant critical robots in group Ki is presented as follows:
   
 
g j
Rni = j ∈ Ni | θi > ming θi
K k
∧ (ρij = 1) . (31)
k∈Ni
After minimization of local connectivity topologies, robot i
has only one-connected topologies with robots j ∈ X, where
X = Nic \ (RnTi ∪ RnK
i ), that must be preserved for the global
network integrity.
C. Computational Complexity
The HDC algorithm consists of both the distributed node
control and the distributed connectivity control algorithms so
computational complexity is calculated based on these con-
trol algorithms. In the distributed node control algorithm, the
velocity command is calculated based on the number of neigh-
boring robots Ni , while the distributed connectivity control
algorithm uses peer-to-peer communication with the maxi-
mum communication level Lc to exchange information and
negotiate removing redundant critical connectivities. Thus,
the computational complexity of the HDC algorithm depends
on the number of neighboring robots Ni , O(Ni ), and the
communication level O(Lc ).
IV. R ESULTS AND D ISCUSSION
In this section, the HDC system is examined and evalu-
ated through the multitarget tracking problem as a typical
case of cooperative tasks of a networked MRS. The MRS
is deployed into a 2-D space to occupy randomly distributed
targets. Initially, all robots are connected in a network.
A. Simulation
1) Simulation Setup: Experimental scenarios are randomly
generated by the Gaussian random distribution in which an
experimental area 2-D are divided into d × d cells, and four
cells are gathered in a group. Targets are distributed within
the cells by Gaussian random distribution so that the target
distribution graph is connected under the constraint of radius
rc . Each cell has Nt targets and each group of targets has Nc
cells Nc ≤ 4. Therefore, the complexity of generated scenarios
depends on parameters d, Nt , and Nc and is represented by
the connectivity property of the target distribution graph. It
increases when the connectivity property decreases as shown
in Fig. 6.
We set the system parameters as seen in Table I. The value
of ra is chosen according to the robot’s drivability and steer-
ability for its reaction time and maintenance of safe distance
with other robots and obstacles. Critical tolerance ε is an
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1285
Fig. 6. Complexity of scenarios: d = 0.5rc –2.0rc , Nt = 5, and Nc = 3.
arbitrary value in the range of Sci and Sai . The factors α, β,
and γ are selected to adjust behaviors of robotics swarm: β
impacts on the interaction between robots when performing
collision avoidance and obstacle avoidance and is proportional
to the strength of repulsive force—the higher the value, the
stronger the repulsive force; α and γ impact cohesion of the
robot swarm. A swarm dispersion behavior is generated if
(α/γ ) < 1; otherwise, it is swarm aggregation behavior. Time
step t is selected so that it covers the computational time of
the HDC on each run-step of a robot and is limited by the
maximum run-steps of robots.
We have collected data from 6400 simulations1 executed in
four cases with respect to the control level activated: level 2,
level 3, and level 4 with two cases (Lc = 1 for quadrangle
topologies only and Lc = N for the entire network). We used
1600 different scenarios filtered from hundreds of thousands of
scenarios generated by the Gaussian random distribution rules
when we increased the number of targets from 10 to 100 and
d = 0.5rc − 2.0rc , Nt = 5, and Nc = 3. In simulations, the
multitarget tracking problem is considered with the number
of robots equal to the number of targets. The Monte Carlo
simulation statistical results are presented in Fig. 7.
2) Results: The simulation results show that the average
ratio of successfully reached targets to total targets is 83.06%
when the HDC system was activated at level 2, as shown in
Fig. 7(a). The rate decreases from 98.82% with the easiest
(dense) scenarios (d = 0.5rc ) to 69.06% with the most difficult
(sparse) scenarios. In the worst case, it is only 47.50%.
Fig. 7(b) illustrates the average rate of successfully reached
targets when the HDC system was activated at level 3. The
rate with this control level is 97.41%, which is higher than the
rate at level 2 because all redundant critical connectivities of
triangle topologies were removed. Similar to level 2, the rate
decreases from 99.47% to 94.73% when we tested the dense
and sparse scenarios, respectively. The rate is only 72.50% in
the worst case.
We examined the HDC system activated at level 4 in two
cases, with the communication levels Lc = 1 (one-hop) and
Lc = N (N-hops) as shown in Fig. 7(c) and (d), respectively.
When level 4 was activated with Lc = 1, the average rate
was extremely high at 99.24%, even through the robots were
1 100 robots track 100 targets: https://youtu.be/1nas4pGv2i8.
1286 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CYBERNETICS, VOL. 50, NO. 3, MARCH 2020

Fig. 7. Statistical results of successfully reached targets per total targets. (a) Level 2. (b) Level 3. (c) Level 4 with Lc = 1. (d) Level 4 with Lc = N.

Fig. 8. Rate of successfully reached targets over time with 100 targets. (a) d = 1.0 (Dense). (b) d = 1.5 (Hybrid). (c) d = 2.0 (Sparse).

capable of only identifying k-connected topologies in terms
of quadrangle topologies. The success rate is 100% when we
examined the dense scenarios, while it is only 97.97% when
we experimented with the sparse scenarios. The successful rate
is only 90% in the worst case, where only one robot could
not reach its target in the ten-target scenario. As predicted,
when Lc = N, the robots occupied the targets with a 100%
success rate in all randomly selected scenarios because all
local connectivity topologies were detected.
We also examined the computational complexity of the
HDC algorithm over the average rate of successfully reached
targets to realize that the computational complexity is highly
scenario-dependant, increasing from dense scenarios (d =
1.0rc ) to sparse scenarios (d = 2.0rc ) as illustrated in Fig. 8.
This also affirms that in the same scenario, releasing mobility
constraints of critical connectivity topologies is necessary to
increase the successful rate of target occupation and it is best
at level 4 with Lc = N.
In an experiment, the computational complexity of MRS can
be theoretically computed in the volume, denoted by Ct , of a
cube with dimensions corresponding to a number of robots,
the time taken to reach targets, and the communication level
activated as shown in Fig. 9. The computational complexity
mostly depends on the number of local connectivity topolo-
gies appearing during the experiment and the communication
level used for minimization of local connectivity topologies,
denoted by Cf . The statistical results in Fig. 9 show that the
rate (Cf /Ct ) is always less than 1% and at the level 4, the
average communication level is 3, 3.057, and 3.657, corre-
sponding to Fig. 9(c), (f), and (i). This confirms that level 4
of HDC with Lc = N (a robot must broadcast a message to
all of the other robots to identify local connectivity topolo-
gies) is rarely used; that is, broadcasting communication is
rarely used while level 3 is often activated to minimize local
connectivity topologies in the distributed connectivity control
algorithm.

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HUNG et al.: HDC FOR GLOBAL NETWORK INTEGRITY PRESERVATION IN MRSs 1287

Fig. 9. Computational complexity of the HDC in scenarios: dense with d = 1.0 (a)–(c), hybrid with d = 1.5 (d)–(f), and sparse with d = 2.0 (g)–(i). The
total of each typical topologies processed by the HDC is shown in the legend of each figure.

B. Experiments
1) System Setup: In real-world experiments, we used up to
14 customized 14-cm diameter disc-like differentially-driven
wheel platforms. We set the maximum velocity of the robot to
vmax = 0.8 m/s and compared it with the actual maximum of
1.6 m/s, the sensing and communication range to rc = 1 m,
and the obstacle avoidance range to ra = 0.15 m. We used a
motion-tracking system to reduce difficulties by representing
the sensing and communication range of the robots.
2) Results: The HDC strategy was demonstrated in two
case studies: 1) the number of robots is equal to the number
of targets and 2) the number of robots is less than the number
of targets. In the first case, we developed three special sce-
narios, including quadrangle, swing, and random containing
“topology traps” of which local connectivity topologies are
established. In the second case, every robot was set to occupy
a target in an interval of time, and then it leaves to occupy the
next target. As seen in Figs. 10–13, the trapped robot is marked
by a red circle, and the blue and red links represent critical
connectivities and redundant connectivities, respectively.
In the quadrangle scenario,2 four robots were dispersed to
track four targets formed in a quadrangle as shown in Fig. 10.
A k-connected topology was established when the MRS was
deployed to track targets. If the HDC system was only acti-
vated at level 2 or level 3, the robot trapped in the k-connected
topology was unable to reach its assigned target. However,
the trapped robot successfully escaped when the HDC system
was activated at level 4 because the k-connected topology was
reduced to a one-connected topology.
In the swing scenario,3 we deployed six robots to track and
occupy six targets as illustrated in Fig. 11. When the HDC
system worked at level 2, there were two robots constrained by
the triangle topologies, making it impossible for them to reach
2 Quadrangle scenario: https://youtu.be/gOEfKlHD7vM.
3 Swing scenario: https://youtu.be/6aEeFRkyl0g.

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1288 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CYBERNETICS, VOL. 50, NO. 3, MARCH 2020

Fig. 10. Quadrangle scenario with four robots. (a) Level 2. (b) Level 3. (c) Level 4.

Fig. 11. Swing scenario with six robots. (a) Level 2. (b) Level 3. (c) Level 4.

Fig. 12. Random scenario with 14 robots. (a) Level 2. (b) Level 3. (c) Level 4.

their targets. At level 3, one of them successfully escaped to
reach its assigned target while another one was still obstructed
by the k-connected topology. At level 4, all of the local connec-
tivity topologies were minimized so that all robots successfully
reached their targets.
In the random scenario,4 we deployed 14 robots to occupy
14 randomly distributed targets as illustrated in Fig. 12. When
the HDC system was activated at level 2, a robot was trapped
4 Random scenario: https://youtu.be/DbOFo0dYye0.

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HUNG et al.: HDC FOR GLOBAL NETWORK INTEGRITY PRESERVATION IN MRSs 1289

Fig. 13. Snapshots of five robots coordination for tracking and occupying 20 randomly distributed targets. (a) Robots occupied the first targets. (b) Robots
are trapped in a triangle topology. (c) Robots formed in one-connected topology.

Fig. 14. Connectivity properties of the graph G(V, E) over run-steps. (a) λ2min > 0 in 6400 simulations (λ2min = 0.0068). (b) λ2min > 0 in ten real
experiments (λ2min = 0.2163).

by both the triangle and k-connected topology while it was
only blocked by the k-connected topology when the HDC
system was set at level 3. When the HDC system was trig-
gered at level 4, the robot successfully escaped from all of the
local topology constraints to reach its target.
To demonstrate the adaptability of the HDC for the MRS,
we designed an experiment5 using five robots to track 20
randomly distributed targets as shown in Fig. 13. In this exper-
iment, a robot released its target occupation and after a short
while, it moved further to occupy the next target. The result
shows that when the HDC was activated at level 4, a group
of five robots successfully tracked and occupied 20 randomly
distributed targets while preserving global network integrity.
C. Discussion
From the experimental results described in Sections IV-A
and IV-B, we analyze the key properties of the HDC as
follows.
1) Preserving Global Network Integrity: In all experiments
in both simulations and real-world experiments, we measured
the second smallest eigenvalue of the connectivity graph of
5 Five robots track 20 targets: https://youtu.be/uWuljXp1A5s.
the MRS. It is always greater than zero for all run-steps of the
experiments as illustrated in Fig. 14, that is, λ2 > 0. It affirms
that the global network integrity of the MRS was preserved
during the period of experiments.
The HDC strategy solves the global network integrity
preservation problem in a distributed manner by applying the
mobility constraint for critical neighbors only as shown in
(17). The method is different from other methods [22]–[31],
requiring algebraic connectivity estimation in which a robot
must frequently update connectivities with its neighbors to
estimate the second smallest eigenvalue for distributed con-
trol, so it is very time consuming (a few seconds for only
six robots as in [24]) due to network dynamics and a large
number of robots. In our method, we examined that the HDC
was rarely activated at the communication level Lc = N as
shown in the statistical results in Fig. 9. Moreover, if level
4 with the communication level Lc = N was even activated,
it was only active in a very short period of time in order to
check the type of local network topology of robot i. Therefore,
our proposed method can operate with time-step t within a
few milliseconds, compared to a few seconds in the methods
using intercommunication to estimate algebraic connectivity.
Hence, to the best of our knowledge, the HDC is the first-ever

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1290
method of global network integrity preservation without using
estimation of algebraic connectivity.
2) Expanding the Network Coverage: The network cover-
age area is expanded by the local connectivity minimization
strategy of the HDC described in Section II-C, allowing robots
to reach their desired destinations.
As mentioned in Section I, the distributed control laws for
the global connectivity maintenance problem in the previous
works use potential fields for interaction among robots.
Therefore, the local minima is a critical problem of potential
force fields [36]. In this paper, a local minima corresponds to
a topology trap. Thanks to the local connectivity minimization
strategy, robots are capable of escaping from topology traps
to move toward assigned targets so task performance is at
the highest success rate, 100%, of multiple target tracking in
all experiments. To the best of our knowledge, we have not
found a similar method of minimization of local connectivity
topologies in previous works.
3) High Performance and Flexibility: Thanks to the local
connectivity minimization strategy that is adaptable to any
network topology, the MRS had a capacity of expanding the
coverage area, so it achieved a high performance level as
shown in the statistical simulation results. Specifically, the
average rate is 83.06% at level 2, 97.41% at level 3, 99.24%
at level 4 with one-hop communication, and 100% at level 4
with N-hop communication.
The HDC is scalable to different numbers of robots in the
network as demonstrated through simulations executed from
10 to 100 robots and real-world experiments with 4, 5, 6, and
14 robots. Time consumption for experiments was bounded
and did not dramatically increase with respect to the num-
ber of the robots or the complexity of scenarios. Specifically,
the robots took more time for local connectivity minimization
strategy in complex scenarios, but they accelerated target
tracking and an occupation process once they escaped from
topology traps. The HDC was adaptable to assigned tasks and
application scenarios as demonstrated through a series of sim-
ulations and real experiments. We demonstrated that assigned
tasks of the robots can be easily switched or modified but the
HDC system was still capable of handling different assigned
tasks, for example, “track to occupy permanently” as shown in
Figs. 10–12, “track to occupy temporary” as seen in Fig. 13.
The scalability and adaptability affirm that the HDC is flexi-
ble to deploy the MRS into an unknown environment without
resetting the robot configuration.
V. C ONCLUSION
We addressed our novel HDC strategy for the MRS. It
includes the two-layer distributed mobility controller of nodes
with a bounded mobility constraint, guaranteeing the global
network integrity preservation and the two-layer distributed
connectivity controller of network topologies with a local con-
nectivity minimization strategy, allowing network coverage
expansion. To the best of our knowledge, the HDC is the
first method for global network integrity preservation with-
out requiring estimation of the algebraic connectivity of the
communication graph. The experimental results show that the
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CYBERNETICS, VOL. 50, NO. 3, MARCH 2020
HDC is capable of achieving the highest performance in the
multitarget tracking problem because of the systematic prop-
erty of flexibility, which is necessary and sufficient to enable
the MRS to perform different tasks in various environments.
In the scope of this paper, we used two assumptions of sens-
ing and communication capacities for mobile robots. In the
former, we applied a disc-like ranging sensor model for all of
the robots so that they can detect and identify its neighbors
within the sensing range. Although this assumption has been
widely used in communities of robotics and wireless-sensor
networks, it is not truly realistic with current state-of-the-art
sensor technologies and when the robotic system is applied
in a real-world environment. A probabilistic model for rang-
ing sensors is more reliable and additive white noise might be
applied to increase the reality of sensor modeling. In the latter,
we used a binary communication model to represent the com-
munication rate of robots. We assumed that a communication
protocol of networked MRSs exists with a secured success rate
of peer-to-peer communication if the wireless communication
range of a robot is restricted within its sensing range. Although
this assumption is reasonable according to existing wireless
communication technologies, communication between robots
within a short distance might be obstructed by obstacles, and
delay and latency of peer-to-peer communication caused by
robot mobility are still an open research problem in wireless
networks. Therefore, integrating different probabilistic models
for ranging sensor and wireless communication in the HDC
strategy will be a focus of our future in this research direction.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank M. Hall (http://www.matt-
hall.ca) for proofreading this paper.
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Pham Duy Hung received the B.Sc. and M.Sc.
distributed swarm aggregation for multiple kinematic robots,” IEEE
degrees in electronics and telecommunication from
Trans. Robot., vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 1213–1223, Oct. 2008.
the University of Engineering and Technology,
[18] A. Ajorlou, A. Momeni, and A. G. Aghdam, “A class of bounded dis-
Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2003 and 2006, respectively,
tributed control strategies for connectivity preservation in multi-agent
where he is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in
systems,” IEEE Trans. Autom. Control, vol. 55, no. 12, pp. 2828–2833,
robotics.
Dec. 2010.
His current research interests include distributed
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control of multiagent systems with an emphasis
robotic sensor networks: An information-theoretic approach,” Int. J.
on deployment, exploration, coverage, and multiple
Robot. Res., vol. 31, no. 10, pp. 1134–1154, Sep. 2012.
target tracking.
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cation based potential force for robot formations: A practical approach,”
in Proc. DARS, 2010, pp. 243–253.
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lutionary artificial potential field algorithm for stable operation of a
multi-robot system on domes,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Auton. Robot
Syst. Competitions (ICARSC), 2014, pp. 92–97.
[22] R. K. Williams and G. S. Sukhatme, “Locally constrained connectiv-
ity control in mobile robot networks,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Robot.
Autom., Karlsruhe, Germany, May 2013, pp. 901–906.
[23] R. K. Williams, A. Gasparri, G. S. Sukhatme, and G. Ulivi, “Global Tran Quang Vinh received the Ph.D. degree in
connectivity control for spatially interacting multi-robot systems with radio physics from Vietnam National University,
unicycle kinematics,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Robot. Autom. (ICRA), Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2003.
May 2015, pp. 1255–1261. He is an Associate Professor with the University
[24] P. Yang et al., “Decentralized estimation and control of graph connectiv- of Engineering and Technology, Hanoi. His cur-
ity in mobile sensor networks,” Automatica, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 390–396, rent research interests include intelligent robotics,
2010. fuzzy logics, sensor fusion, networked robotics,
[25] L. Sabattini, N. Chopra, and C. Secchi, “Decentralized connectivity computer architecture, instrumentation, and control
maintenance for cooperative control of mobile robotic systems,” Int. engineering.
J. Robot. Res., vol. 32, no. 12, pp. 1411–1423, 2013.
[26] L. Sabattini, C. Secchi, N. Chopra, and A. Gasparri, “Distributed con-
trol of multirobot systems with global connectivity maintenance,” IEEE
Trans. Robot., vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 1326–1332, Oct. 2013.
[27] P. R. Giordano, A. Franchi, C. Secchi, and H. H. Bülthoff, “A passivity-
based decentralized strategy for generalized connectivity maintenance,”
Int. J. Robot. Res., vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 299–323, Mar. 2013.
[28] T. Nestmeyer, P. R. Giordano, H. H. Bülthoff, and A. Franchi,
“Decentralized simultaneous multi-target exploration using a connected
network of multiple robots,” Auton. Robots, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 989–1011, Trung Dung Ngo (M’08–SM’18) received the B.Sc.
2017. degree in electronics and telecommunication from
[29] D. Cai, S. Wu, and J. Deng, “Distributed global connectivity main- Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam, in
tenance and control of multi-robot networks,” IEEE Access, vol. 5, 2000, the M.Sc. degree in computer systems engi-
pp. 9398–9414, 2017. neering (robotics) from the University of Southern
[30] A. Gasparri, L. Sabattini, and G. Ulivi, “Bounded control law for Denmark, Odense, Denmark, in 2004, and the
global connectivity maintenance in cooperative multirobot systems,” Ph.D. degree in electrical and electronic engineer-
IEEE Trans. Robot., vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 700–717, Jun. 2017. ing (robotics) from Aalborg University, Aalborg,
[31] J. Panerati et al., “Robust connectivity maintenance for fallible robots,” Denmark, in 2008,
Auton. Robots, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 769–787, 2019. He was a Faculty Member with the Department
[32] P. D. Hung, T. Q. Vinh, and T. D. Ngo, “A scalable, decentralised large- of Electronic Systems, Aalborg University, and the
scale network of mobile robots for multi-target tracking,” in Proc. Intell. Faculty of Science, University of Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. He is
Auton. Syst., 2016, pp. 621–637. currently an Associate Professor with the University of Prince Edward Island,
[33] T. D. Ngo, P. D. Hung, and M.-T. Pham, “A Kangaroo inspired het- Charlottetown, PE, Canada, where he is the Founder and the Director of the
erogeneous swarm of mobile robots with global network integrity for More-Than-One Robotics Laboratory and the Lead Researcher of the Centre
fast deployment and exploration in large scale structured environments,” for Excellence in Robotics and Industrial Automation. His current research
in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Robot. Biomimetics (ROBIO), Dec. 2014, interests include multirobot systems, modular robotics, and human–robot
pp. 1205–1212. collaboration.

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