TRAJECTORY PLANNING AND COORDINATED CONTROL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS

A new method combining trajectory planning and coordination or formation control of robotic and autonomous systems is presented. The method generates target trajectories that are either asymptotically stable or result in a stable limit cycle. The former case is used to implement formation control. Coordination is guaranteed in the latter case due to the nature of limit cycles where non-crossing independent paths are automatically generated from different starting positions that smoothly converge to closed orbits. The use of position feedback in the trajectory generation allows for simultaneous determination of a stable tracking control law and consideration of constraints and system limitations. The tracking control law presented in this work is based on sliding mode control which is suitable for real-time implementation. It is also robust to modeling uncertainties and disturbances normally encountered in autonomous operations. A system of robotic manipulators and a group of autonomous vehicles are used as examples to demonstrate the capabilities and advantages of the proposed method.