Formated Navigation of Mobile Robots Using Distributed Leader-Follower Control

Leader–follower formation control with obstacle avoidance using sonar-equipped mobile robots

“…Relative equations between leader and follower robots are first shown. 16 A distributive control law, called SMI, [15][16][17] is next shown. Furthermore, sonar-equipped mobile robots, Pioneer 1 and Pioneer 2, are briefly explained.…”

“…Based on the above discussion, this article proposes adaptive sonar assignment to distinguish the leader robot from the obstacle. In the concrete, the above idea is embedded in the relative distance and angle from sonars given by equations (15) and (16), respectively. That is, the set F used in equations ( 15) and ( 16) is changeable with respect to each sampling.…”

“…In equation (10), the follower input u f includes the relative leader state q l and the leader velocity v l . Fujimori et al 15–17 proposed a modified leader–follower technique called the SMI in the discrete time to perform the follower input without a communication tool between the leader and the follower robots. Let T s be the sampling time.…”

“…Yu et al 14 used a potential function to track the velocity of the leader robot. Fujimori et al [15][16][17] proposed a distributed control law called the self-made input (SMI) in which the states of the leader robot are not required.…”

“…A control law of the follower robots is next given by a distributed control law called the SMI. [15][16][17] Section ''Reactive obstacle avoidance'' presents a reactive collision avoidance technique for Pioneer 1 and Pioneer 2. The collision avoidance technique is embedded on both the leader and follower robots.…”