Orientation coordination of multiple robots based on a nonlinear consensus algorithm

In this paper we design a control strategy for orientation coordination of multiple mobile robots system based on a nonlinear consensus algorithm. By using the nonlinear terms defined to indicate the orientation difference among neighbors, each robot control its own motion direction, and then all robots´ orientations converge to the average of their initial values. A scheme of communication topology design is proposed. It is proved that the coordinated control algorithm distributed on that kind of topology can make multiple single integrators with input limits reach average consensus. Finally, the comparison of the numerical simulation results under conditions of two different topologies shows the effectiveness of the control algorithm.