Distributed Attitude Synchronization Control

In this paper we consider the problem of constructing feedback control laws for a system of n agents that shall synchronize their attitudes in SO(3). We propose distributed controllers for two synchronization problems, in which the objective is the same, to synchronize the orientations, but what the agents can perceive or communicate differs. In the first problem the agents can measure their orientation to a common reference object, and either communicate with the neighbors or estimate the relative orientation to their neighbors. In the second problem the agents can, without communication, only measure the relative orientation to the neighbors. For the first problem we present a controller which will lead to synchronization, provided the neighborhood graph is connected. For the second problem we present a controller that will lead to synchronization provided the neighborhood graph is connected and the agents initially are contained within a geodesic ball of radius pi/2, which is the maximal convex set in SO(3).