Leader-follower based formation control of nonholonomic robots using the virtual vehicle approach

In this paper we investigate the leader follower motion coordination of multiple nonholonomic mobile robots. A combination of the virtual vehicle and trajectory tracking approach is used to derive the formation architecture. A virtual vehicle is steered in such away it stabilizes to a shifted reference position/heading deflned by the leader, the velocity of the virtual vehicle is then provided for further use in designing control law for the follower independent from the measurement of leader's velocity. Position tracking control is then constructed for the follower to track the virtual vehicle using the backstepping and Lyapunov direct design technique. Simulations are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.