A Leader-Following Formation Control of a Group of Mixed-Type Mobile Robots

This paper proposes a leader-following formation control for a group of mixed-type mobile robots such as unicycle-type, carlike, and forklift-type robots. These robots are quite different in kinematics and dynamics. The leader follows its desired trajectory while the rest of robots are following the leader in a specified formation. The proposed formation control computes the desired driving force and steering torque of each robot. The proposed control consists of a formation control scheme and a kinematic trajectory generation scheme for the leader of a group. The nonholonomic constraints of each of the mixed-type mobile robots are taken into account in the design of the formation control and trajectory generation schemes, in which the Lyapunov stability theorem and the loop shaping method are used as design tools. Under certain conditions, the proposed formation control guarantees asymptotic stability while keeping all internal signals bounded. The effectiveness of the proposed control has been shown with realistic computer simulations.