Formation control of networked mobile robots with guaranteed obstacle and collision avoidance

Abstract

SUMMARY This note presents a novel method to design a controller for the formation of networked mobile robots, where the communication between the members of the group is affected by variable time-delay. The control objective is twofold: to maintain the formation during the motion along a desired path and guarantee no collisions with obstacles or adjacent robots. Initially, an innovative dynamical model is formulated for the system; afterwards, the notion of model predictive control is employed to ensure collision avoidance with guaranteed stability. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the suggested method.