Nonlinear Coordinated Path Following Control of Multiple Wheeled Robots with Bidirectional Communication Constraints
Abstract
The paper presents a solution to the problem of steering a group of wheeled robots along given
spatial paths, while holding a desired inter-vehicle formation pattern. This problem arises for example
when multiple robots are required to search a given area in cooperation. The solution proposed
addresses explicitly the dynamics of the cooperating robots and the constraints imposed by the
topology of the inter-vehicle communications network. Lyapunov-based techniques and graph theory
are brought together to yield a decentralized control structure where the information exchanged among
the robots is kept at a minimum. With the set-up proposed, path following (in space) and inter-vehicle
coordination (in time) are essentially decoupled. Path following for each vehicle amounts to reducing
a conveniently defined error variable to zero. Vehicle coordination is achieved by adjusting the speed
of each of the vehicles along its path according to information on the positions and speeds of a subset
of the other vehicles, as determined by the communications topology adopted. Simulations illustrate
the efficacy of the solution proposed.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
AUTONOMOUS CUEING WITHIN HETEROGENEOUS ROBOT SWARMS
Campbell, Britt J. (Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School, 2019-06);When integrated into military operations, autonomous swarm technology has the potential to alleviate some of the challenges presented by demanding and highly dynamic environments and problems. Autonomous aerial swarms ... -
Creating virtual environments for evaluating human-machine teaming
Brutzman, Donald P.; Fitzpatrick, Christian (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2020-01); NPS-MV-20-001With the emergence of robots on the battlefield, it is critical for the Marine Corps to tactically integrate existing unmanned assets with manned systems during Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) operations. In parallel, ... -
Subsumption Robotics
DeBolt, Christopher K.; Freed, Craig; Nguyen, Tuan N.; Greiner, Helen; Pook, Polly K.; Whittinghill, George; Healey, Anthony (1998);Through the use of subsumption architectures, low cost, simple robots can be developed to undertake the hazard of moving a submunition or scatterable mine to a disposal area for neutralization. A number of these robots ...