Distributed Leader-Following Formation Control of Networked Mobile Robots via Global Orientation Estimation

This article proposes a novel distributed leader-following formation control strategy for multiple networked mobile robots, utilizing the relative position measurements among robots. In particular, the leader is assumed to have the same kinematics as the followers and all the robots do not rely on orientation measurements. Firstly, a global orientation estimation law is proposed in the sense that the followers' orientation information is estimated in the leader's reference frame, only based on the leader's orientation estimation and relative bearing information. Secondly, since the leader is not directly connected to all the followers, a new distributed state observer is designed for each follower to estimate the leader's states. Especially, the designed observer not only removes the algebraic loops issue but also eliminates the requirement for the leader's acceleration information. Furthermore, a distributed formation control law is proposed by incorporating the previous estimations, and it is proved that the closed-loop system consisting of the observer and controller is asymptotically stable. Finally, simulation results validate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.