Modelling and Feedback Control for Reversing a Nonholonomic Mobile Robot Platoon

This paper addresses the control problem of a platoon of nonholonomic mobile robots in the case of backward motion of the leading robot. By using a virtual non-static with respect to the lead robot reference frame as a target, a kinematic model of the robot platoon in error coordinates is developed. A nonlinear feedback controller based on the entire platoon model is designed by means of high-gain control. Asymptotic stability property of the closed-loop system is established using Lyapunov theory. For backward motion of the leading robot along a circular path, at steady-state, the two-robot platoon should travel concentric arcs of same radii with prescribed inter-robot spacing. The performance of the proposed tracking controller is illustrated through numerical simulations.