Adaptive neural network consensus based control of robot formations

Abstract

In this paper, adaptive consensus based formation control scheme is derived for mobile robots in a pre-defined formation when full dynamics of the robots which include inertia, Corolis, and friction vector are considered. It is shown that dynamic uncertainties of robots can make overall formation unstable when traditional consensus scheme is utilized. In order to estimate the affine nonlinear robot dynamics, a NN based adaptive scheme is utilized. In addition to this adaptive feedback control input, an additional control input is introduced based on the consensus approach to make the robots keep their desired formation. Subsequently, the outer consensus loop is redesigned for reduced communication. Lyapunov theory is used to show the stability of overall system. Simulation results are included at the end.