Analysis of formation control and networking pattern in multi-robot systems: a hexagonal formation example

Abstract

This paper analyses the characteristics and property of generating a formation by a team of homogenous robots. Graphic networking patterns are used to model the physical relationship and information exchanging topology among robots. The high-level controller based on artificial potential field is designed for the formation generation. Five scenarios of formation control with considering the effect of different networking topologies are discussed and simulated in detail. Factors such as robustness, convergence speed, power consumption and system efficiency are compared for different information sharing topologies. Simulation results show that motion interaction of robots in formation control can be more efficient and robust with properly chosen networking patterns.