Formation control of networked mobile robots with weighted directed topology using the Udwadia–Kalaba approach

In this paper, the formation control of networked mobile robots is investigated by using the Udwadia–Kalaba approach. The communication topology is directed, weighted and has a spanning tree. By reformulating the control objective as a constrained equation, a formation controller is designed for the leaderless case. Moreover, the trajectories of the formation are rigorously analyzed. It is derived that there are three typical geometric patterns: a point, a straight line and a circle. Further, to satisfy requirements on the formation trajectories in practical applications, a formation controller is designed for the leader-following case. Finally, some numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed controllers.