arXiv subjects

Hossein B. Jond

Publications and source records attributed to Hossein B. Jond.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Position-Based Flocking for Persistent Alignment without Velocity Sensing

Coordinated collective motion in bird flocks and fish schools inspires algorithms for cohesive swarm robotics. This paper presents a position-based flocking model that achieves persistent velocity alignment without velocity sensing. By approximating relative velocity differences from changes between current and initial relative positions and incorporating a time- and density-dependent alignment gain with a non-zero minimum threshold to maintain persistent alignment, the model sustains coherent collective motion over extended periods. Simulations with a collective of 50 agents demonstrate that the position-based flocking model attains faster and more sustained directional alignment and results in more compact formations than a velocity-alignment-based baseline. This position-based flocking model is particularly well-suited for real-world robotic swarms, where velocity measurements are unreliable, noisy, or unavailable. Experimental results using a team of nine real wheeled mobile robots are also presented.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2026

FDA Flocking: Future Direction-Aware Flocking via Velocity Prediction

Understanding self-organization in natural collectives such as bird flocks inspires swarm robotics, yet most flocking models remain reactive, overlooking anticipatory cues that enhance coordination. Motivated by avian postural and wingbeat signals, as well as multirotor attitude tilts that precede directional changes, this work introduces a principled, bio-inspired anticipatory augmentation of reactive flocking termed Future Direction-Aware (FDA) flocking. In the proposed framework, agents blend reactive alignment with a predictive term based on short-term estimates of neighbors' future velocities, regulated by a tunable blending parameter that interpolates between reactive and anticipatory behaviors. This predictive structure enhances velocity consensus and cohesion-separation balance while mitigating the adverse effects of sensing and communication delays and measurement noise that destabilize reactive baselines. Simulation results demonstrate that FDA achieves faster and higher alignment, enhanced translational displacement of the flock, and improved robustness to delays and noise compared to a purely reactive model. Future work will investigate adaptive blending strategies, weighted prediction schemes, and experimental validation on multirotor drone swarms.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2025

A Minimal Model for Emergent Collective Behaviors in Autonomous Robotic Multi-Agent Systems

Collective behaviors such as swarming and flocking emerge from simple, decentralized interactions in biological systems. Existing models, such as Vicsek and Cucker-Smale, lack collision avoidance, whereas the Olfati-Saber model imposes rigid formations, limiting their applicability in swarm robotics. To address these limitations, this paper proposes a minimal yet expressive model that governs agent dynamics using relative positions, velocities, and local density, modulated by two tunable parameters: the spatial offset and kinetic offset. The model achieves spatially flexible, collision-free behaviors that reflect naturalistic group dynamics. Furthermore, we extend the framework to cognitive autonomous systems, enabling energy-aware phase transitions between swarming and flocking through adaptive control parameter tuning. This cognitively inspired approach offers a robust foundation for real-world applications in multi-robot systems, particularly autonomous aerial swarms.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2025

Position-Based Flocking for Robust Alignment

This paper presents a position-based flocking model for interacting agents, balancing cohesion-separation and alignment to achieve stable collective motion. The model modifies a position-velocity-based approach by approximating velocity differences using initial and current positions, introducing a threshold weight to ensure sustained alignment. Simulations with 50 agents in 2D demonstrate that the position-based model produces stronger alignment and more rigid and compact formations compared to the position-velocity-based model. The alignment metric and separation distances highlight the efficacy of the proposed model in achieving robust flocking behavior. The model's use of positions ensures robust alignment, with applications in robotics and collective dynamics.

cs.MA↗

arXiv2025

Bearing-Distance Flocking with Zone-Based Interactions in Constrained Dynamic Environments

This paper presents a novel zone-based flocking control approach suitable for dynamic multi-agent systems (MAS). Inspired by Reynolds behavioral rules for $boids$, flocking behavioral rules with the zones of repulsion, conflict, attraction, and surveillance are introduced. For each agent, using only bearing and distance measurements, behavioral contribution vectors quantify the local separation, local and global flock velocity alignment, local cohesion, obstacle avoidance and boundary conditions, and strategic separation for avoiding alien agents. The control strategy uses the local perception-based behavioral contribution vectors to guide each agent's motion. Additionally, the control strategy incorporates a directionally aware obstacle avoidance mechanism that prioritizes obstacles in the agent's forward path. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the model in creating flexible, adaptable, and scalable flocking behavior. Asymptotic stability and convergence to a stable flocking configuration for any initial conditions provided the interaction graph is a spanning tree are demonstrated. The flocking model's reliance on locally sensed bearing and distance measurements ensures scalability and robustness, particularly in scenarios where communication is unreliable or resource-intensive. This makes it well-suited for real-world applications demanding seamless operation in highly dynamic and distributed environments.

cs.MA↗

arXiv2025

Flatness-based Finite-Horizon Multi-UAV Formation Trajectory Planning and Directionally Aware Collision Avoidance Tracking

Optimal collision-free formation control of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a challenge. The state-of-the-art optimal control approaches often rely on numerical methods sensitive to initial guesses. This paper presents an innovative collision-free finite-time formation control scheme for multiple UAVs leveraging the differential flatness of the UAV dynamics, eliminating the need for numerical methods. We formulate a finite-time optimal control problem to plan a formation trajectory for feasible initial states. This optimal control problem in formation trajectory planning involves a collective performance index to meet the formation requirements to achieve relative positions and velocity consensus. It is solved by applying Pontryagin's principle. Subsequently, a collision-constrained regulating problem is addressed to ensure collision-free tracking of the planned formation trajectory. The tracking problem incorporates a directionally aware collision avoidance strategy that prioritizes avoiding UAVs in the forward path and relative approach. It assigns lower priority to those on the sides with an oblique relative approach, disregarding UAVs behind and not in the relative approach. The high-fidelity simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2024

A Game Approach to Multi-dimensional Opinion Dynamics in Social Networks with Stubborn Strategist Agents

In a social network, individuals express their opinions on several interdependent topics, and therefore the evolution of their opinions on these topics is also mutually dependent. In this work, we propose a differential game model for the multi-dimensional opinion formation of a social network whose population of agents interacts according to a communication graph. Each individual's opinion evolves according to an aggregation of disagreements between the agent's opinions and its graph neighbors on multiple interdependent topics exposed to an unknown extraneous disturbance. For a social network with strategist agents the opinions evolve over time with respect to the minimization of a quadratic cost function that solely represents each individual's motives against the disturbance. We find the unique Nash/worst-case equilibrium solution for the proposed differential game model of coupled multi-dimensional opinions under an open-loop information structure. Moreover, we propose a distributed implementation of the Nash/worst-case equilibrium solution. We examine the non-distributed and proposed distributed open-loop Nash/worst-case strategies on a small social network with strategist agents in a two-dimensional opinion space. Then we compare the opinions evolved based on the Nash/worst-case strategy with the opinions corresponding to social optimality actions for non-strategist agents.

cs.SI↗

arXiv2024

Differential Game Strategies for Social Networks with Self-Interested Individuals

A social network population engages in collective actions as a direct result of forming a particular opinion. The strategic interactions among the individuals acting independently and selfishly naturally portray a noncooperative game. Nash equilibrium allows for self-enforcing strategic interactions between selfish and self-interested individuals. This paper presents a differential game approach to the opinion formation problem in social networks to investigate the evolution of opinions as a result of a Nash equilibrium. The opinion of each individual is described by a differential equation, which is the continuous-time Hegselmann-Krause model for opinion dynamics with a time delay in input. The objective of each individual is to seek optimal strategies for her own opinion evolution by minimizing an individual cost function. Two differential game problems emerge, one for a population that is not stubborn and another for a population that is stubborn. The open-loop Nash equilibrium actions and their associated opinion trajectories are derived for both differential games using Pontryagin's principle. Additionally, the receding horizon control scheme is used to practice feedback strategies where the information flow is restricted by fixed and complete social graphs as well as the second neighborhood concept. The game strategies were executed on the well-known Zachary's Karate Club social network. The resulting opinion trajectories associated with the game strategies showed consensus, polarization, and disagreement in final opinions.

cs.SI↗

arXiv2024

Distributed Differential Graphical Game for Control of Double-Integrator Multi-Agent Systems with Input Delay

This paper studies cooperative control of noncooperative double-integrator multi-agent systems (MASs) with input delay on connected directed graphs in the context of a differential graphical game (DGG). In the distributed DGG, each agent seeks a distributed information control policy by optimizing an individual local performance index (PI) of distributed information from its graph neighbors. The local PI, which quadratically penalizes the agent's deviations from cooperative behavior (e.g., the consensus here), is constructed through the use of the graph Laplacian matrix. For DGGs for double-integrator MASs, the existing body of literature lacks the explicit characterization of Nash equilibrium actions and their associated state trajectories with distributed information. To address this issue, we first convert the N-player DGG with m communication links into m coupled optimal control problems (OCPs), which, in turn, convert to the two-point boundary-value problem (TPBVP). We derive the explicit solutions for the TPBV that constitute the explicit distributed information expressions for Nash equilibrium actions and the state trajectories associated with them for the DGG. An illustrative example verifies the explicit solutions of local information to achieve fully distributed consensus.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2023

Control of Vehicle Platoons with Collision Avoidance Using Noncooperative Differential Games

This paper considers a differential game approach to the predecessor-following vehicle platoon control problem without and with collision avoidance. In this approach, each vehicle tries to minimize the performance index (PI) of its control objective, which is reaching consensual velocity with the predecessor vehicle while maintaining a small inter-vehicle distance from it. Two differential games were formulated. The differential game problem for platoon control without collision avoidance is solved for the open-loop Nash equilibrium and its associated state trajectories. The second differential game problem for platoon control with collision avoidance has a non-quadratic PI, which poses a greater challenge to obtaining its open-loop Nash equilibrium. Since the exact solution is unavailable, we propose an estimated Nash strategy approach that is greatly simplified for implementation. An illustrative example of a vehicle platoon control problem was solved under both the without and with collision avoidance scenarios. The results showed the effectiveness of the models and their solutions for both scenarios.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2023

Opinion Dynamics Optimization Through Noncooperative Differential Games

In this paper, I study optimizing the opinion formation of a social network of a population of individuals on a graph whose opinion evolves according to the Hegselmann-Krause model for opinion dynamics. I propose an optimization problem based on a differential game for a population of individuals who are not stubborn. The objective of each individual is to seek an optimal control policy for her own opinion evolution by optimizing a personal performance index. The Nash equilibrium actions and the associated opinion trajectory with the equilibrium actions are derived for the opinion optimization model using Pontryagin's principle. The game strategies were executed on the well-known Zachary's Karate Club social network. The resulting opinion trajectories associated with the game strategies showed that in non-stubborn Zachary's network, the opinions moved toward the average opinion of the network, but a consensus of final opinions did not necessarily emerge.

cs.SI↗

arXiv2022

Connected and Automated Vehicle Platoon Formation Control via Differential Games

In this study, the connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) platooning problem is resolved under a differential game framework. Three information topologies are considered here. Firstly, Predecessor-following (PF) topology is utilized where the vehicles control the distance with respect to the merely nearest predecessor via a sensor link-based information flow. Secondly, Two-predecessor-following topology (TPF) is exploited where each vehicle controls the distance with respect to the two nearest predecessors. In this topology, the second predecessor is communicated via a Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) link. The individual trajectories of CAVs under the Nash equilibrium are derived in closed-form for these two information topologies. Finally, general information topology is examined and the differential game is formulated in this context. In all these options, Pontryagin's principle is employed to investigate the existence and uniqueness of the Nash equilibrium and obtain its corresponding trajectories. In the general topology, we suppose numerical computation of eigenvalues and eigenvectors. All these approaches represent promising and powerful analytical representations of the CAV platoons under the differential games. Simulation experiments have verified the efficiency of the proposed models and their solutions.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2021

Autonomous Vehicle Convoy Control as a Differential Game

Group control of connected and autonomous vehicles on automated highways is challenging for the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and the automated driving systems (ADS). This paper investigates the differential game-based approach to autonomous convoy control with the aim of deployment on automated highways. Under the non-cooperative differential games, the coupled vehicles make their decisions independently while their states are interdependent. The receding horizon Nash equilibrium of the linear-quadratic differential game provides the convoy a distributed state-feedback control strategy. This approach suffers a fundamental issue that neither a Nash equilibrium's existence nor the uniqueness is guaranteed. We convert the individual dynamics-based differential game to a relative dynamics-based optimal control problem that carries all the features of the differential game. The existence of a unique Nash control under the differential game corresponds to a unique solution to the optimal control problem. The latter is shown, as well as the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system. Simulations illustrate the effectiveness of the presented convey control scheme and how it well suits automated highway driving scenarios.

eess.SY↗