Time-varying formation tracking for UGV swarm systems with switching directed topologies

Time-varying formation tracking problems for unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) swarm systems with switching directed topologies are investigated, where the follower UGVs form a predefined time-varying formation while tracking the leader UGV. A consensus based protocol is constructed using local neighboring information and an algorithm consisting of three steps is also proposed to design the protocol. Sufficient conditions for the UGV swarm systems to achieve the time-varying formation tracking with switching directed topologies under the designed protocol are presented using the piecewise Lyapunov Theory. Moreover, based on a Ultra-Wind Band (UWB) based indoor navigation system, an experimental platform consisting of four omni-directional UGVs is introduced. Finally, both simulation and experimental examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.