A Stable Formation Control Using Approximation of Translational and Angular Accelerations

In this paper, a stable leader-following formation control for multiple non-holonomic mobile robot systems using only limited on-board sensor information is proposed. The control can be used for the conventional single leader - single follower (SLSF) or for novel two leaders - single follower (TLSF) schemes. The control algorithm utilizes estimations of the leaders' translational and angular accelerations in a simple form to reduce the measurement of indirect information. Simulation results show that the TLSF scheme can suppress the oscillation and damping in formation of large robot teams.