A model predictive controller for robots to follow a virtual leader

In this paper, we develop a model predictive control (MPC) scheme for robots to follow a virtual leader. The stability of this control scheme is guaranteed by adding a terminal state penalty to the cost function and a terminal state region to the optimization constraints. The terminal state region is found by analyzing the stability. Also a terminal state controller is defined for this control scheme. The terminal state controller is a virtual controller and is never used in the control process. Two virtual leader-following formation models are studied. Simulations on different formation patterns are provided to verify the proposed control strategy.