A strategy of multi-robot formation and obstacle avoidance in unknown environment

This paper deals with the formation and obstacle avoidance of mobile robots in a cluttered environment. By combining an artificial potential field, a leader-follower method is presented to make the multi-robot system keep formation whilst avoiding obstacles. According to the pose and movement conditions of the designated leader, the follower would adjust its position so that the formation control could be achieved and so an artificial potential field has provided a significant improvement in the performance of obstacle avoidance for a multi-robot system. Moreover, considering trajectory dither of formation, a control law to limit the leader's angular velocity is designed to guarantee smooth formation motion trajectory. The simulation and experiential results indicate that the proposed method is efficient for robot formation control and enhances the robustness and stability of the multi-robot system.