  In this paper, we take a first step towards generalizing a recently proposed
method for dealing with the problem of convergence to incorrect equilibrium
points of distance-based formation controllers. Specifically, we introduce a
distance and area-based scheme for the formation control of $n$-agent systems
in two dimensions using directed graphs and the single-integrator model. We
show that under certain conditions on the edge lengths of the triangulated
desired formation, the control ensures almost-global convergence to the correct
formation.
