Distributed coordinated path following using guiding vector fields

TL;DR

This paper introduces a scalable, distributed guiding vector field method for coordinating large groups of mobile robots along different paths, ensuring convergence and applicability in complex environments.

Contribution

It proposes a novel guiding vector field approach that enables distributed, scalable coordination of multiple robots with different paths, using virtual coordinates for relative displacement control.

Findings

Validated with simulations of up to fifty robots

Successfully demonstrated outdoor experiments with fixed-wing aircraft

Guaranteed global convergence of the control algorithm

Abstract

It is essential in many applications to impose a scalable coordinated motion control on a large group of mobile robots, which is efficient in tasks requiring repetitive execution, such as environmental monitoring. In this paper, we design a guiding vector field to guide multiple robots to follow possibly different desired paths while coordinating their motions. The vector field uses a path parameter as a virtual coordinate that is communicated among neighboring robots. Then, the virtual coordinate is utilized to control the relative parametric displacement between robots along the paths. This enables us to design a saturated control algorithm for a Dubins-car-like model. The algorithm is distributed, scalable, and applicable for any smooth paths in an $n$-dimensional configuration space, and global convergence is guaranteed. Simulations with up to fifty robots and outdoor experiments with fixed-wing aircraft validate the theoretical results.