Motion Control of a Flock of 1-Trailer Robots with Swarm Avoidance

Abstract

SUMMARY This paper addresses the motion planning and control problem of a system of 1-trailer robots navigating a dynamic environment cluttered with obstacles including a swarm of boids. A set of nonlinear continuous control laws is proposed via the Lyapunov-based Control Scheme for collision, obstacle, and swarm avoidances. Additionally, a leader–follower strategy is utilized to allow the flock to split and rejoin when approaching obstacles. The effectiveness of the control laws is demonstrated through numerical simulations, which show the split and rejoin maneuvers by the flock when avoiding obstacles while the swarm exhibits emergent behaviors.