Distributed high-gain attitude synchronization using rotation vectors

This paper addresses attitude synchronization problems for systems of multiple rigid-body agents with directed interconnection topologies. Two scenarios which differ in available information are considered. In the first scenario the agents can obtain their rotations and angular velocities relative to an inertial reference frame and transmit these information to their neighbors, while in the second scenario the agents can only obtain their own angular velocities and measure the relative rotations and relative angular velocities of their neighbors. By using rotation vectors and the high gain control, the authors provide torque control laws asymptotically synchronizing the rotations of the system almost globally for the first scenario and with initial rotations of the agents contained in a convex ball of SO(3) for the second scenario. An illustrative example is provided to show the synchronization results for both scenarios.