Leader-follower string formation using cascade control for mobile robots

Abstract

This paper proposes a simple yet effective control algorithm for a platoon of “car-like” robots. The formation used is a line, leader-follower formation, i. e. each robot is a follower for the previous robot and a leader for the next robot. The formation is implemented using speed measurements from optical encoders and distance measurements from image processing, but there is no communication between robots. String stability analysis on the resulting formation is performed. The results of the proposed method are verified by both simulations in Matlab <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">®</sup> as well as measured data from the actual mobile robots.