Decentralized formation control and obstacle avoidance for multiple robots with nonholonomic constraints

This paper proposes a formation control scheme for a group of mobile robots based on a multi-objective potential force. The angle of the potential force, with respect to the global coordinate system, is used to generate trajectories for the navigation of a group of nonholonomic mobile robots. A smooth and continuous control law, based on translational force input and rotational torque input, is designed to reduce the global orientation error asymptotically to zero while maintaining proper formation for a target configuration. Lyapunov stability theorem is applied to construct the proposed control with smooth continuous feedback, in which stability is proved for the control of multiple mobile robots. The formation regulation, flocking, and obstacle avoidance of the proposed control are validated through numerical simulation