Translational Maneuvering Control of Nonholonomic Kinematic Formations: Theory and Experiments

In this work, we present a solution to the distance-based formation maneuvering problem of multiple nonholonomic unicycle-type robots. The control law is designed at the kinematic level and is based on the rigidity properties of the graph modeling the sensing/control interactions among the robots. A simple input transformation is used to facilitate the control design by converting the nonholonomic model into the single-integrator equation. The resulting control ensures exponential convergence to the desired formation while the formation maneuvers according to a desired, time-varying translational velocity. An experimental implementation of the proposed control law is conducted on the Robotarium testbed.