Distributed formation control of unicycle robots

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the problem of distributed formation control for a group of unicycle robots. We propose a control algorithm that solves the formation control problem in that it ensures that robots create a desired time-varying formation shape while the formation as a whole follows a prescribed trajectory. Moreover, we show that it is also possible to obtain coordination of robots in the formation, regardless of the trajectory tracking of the formation. We illustrate the behavior of a group of robots controlled by the formation control algorithm proposed in this paper in a simulation study.