Leader-Steered Rigid Formation Control With Visibility Maintenance for Multiple Nonholonomic Mobile Robots
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This article introduces a novel framework for achieving leader-steered (L-S) rigid formations within a multirobot vehicle system subject to nonholonomic constraints, while considering field-of-view (FOV) constraints. In contrast to the conventional separation-bearing leader-follower model, this framework incorporates a virtual leader model, established through topological and local agent connections. To achieve L-S rigid formations and address FOV constraints, a transformative approach is employed. In addition to forming L-S rigid formations, the framework ensures visibility maintenance between topologically connected vehicles using onboard cameras. This is achieved through the introduction of a continuous and continuously differentiable switching function, crucial in balancing visibility maintenance with formation adjustments, particularly when the global leader traverses trajectory segments with large curvature. To implement the framework, the distributed control protocol and the distributed observer are developed. Numerical simulations and real-world experiments demonstrate the framework's capability to achieve L-S rigid formations while accommodating FOV constraints, showcasing its practical utility and effectiveness in real-world applications.
Source: IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics
Authors: Zhongchao Liang, Mingyu Shen, Zhongguo Li, Jun Yang
Language: English
Subfield: Computer Networks and Communications
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4416750033
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