Distributed synchronization for heterogeneous robots with uncertain kinematics and dynamics under switching topologies

In this paper, the problems related to control for a network of heterogeneous robots, to achieve task-space synchronization in the presence of uncertainties in kinematic and dynamic models have been reported. Based on the proposed control algorithms and adaptive laws, networked robot systems can be ensured to synchronize with imprecise measurement of system parameters and communication delays. Three different connection scenarios, namely, strongly connected graphs, switching regular graphs, and jointly connected regular graphs have been considered in this paper. With the use of weighted storage function, attempts have been made in this paper to demonstrate that a multi-robot system, interconnected over a strongly connected graph with time delays, can be stabilized with guaranteed position and velocity synchronization. Since it is difficult to set up a fixed communication network between robots, an alternative synchronization controller was developed through switching topologies. Additionally, for interconnections between robots that are time-varying and agents that are disconnected at certain time intervals, the stability and synchronous behaviors of the networked system were studied using Lyapunov theory and switching control theory. Numerical examples were also provided to demonstrate the performance of the proposed multi-robot system. (C) 2014 The Franklin Institute. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.