Decentralized strategy for car-like robot formations

Abstract

This work proposes a control architecture for the consistent motions of a group of nonholonomic robotic vehicles. We present a decentralized control strategy that permits each vehicle to autonomously compute an optimal trajectory by using only locally generated information. In addition, to reach the desired positions in the robot formation, each robot follows a trajectory that is adapted thanks to reactive terms incorporated in the path planning process. This allows the robot to avoid obstacles and to maintain communication with the rest of the formation. We provide the proof of the convergence of this algorithm. Simulation results validate and highlight the efficiency and relevance of this method.