Formation control and coordination of multiple unmanned ground vehicles in normal and faulty situations: A review

Abstract Recently, multiple unmanned vehicles have attracted a great deal of attention as viable solutions to a wide variety of civilian and military applications. Among many topics in the field of multiple unmanned systems, formation control and coordination is of great importance. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review on the strategies and methodologies applied for formation control of multiple unmanned ground vehicles in both normal and faulty situations. First, the basic definitions of formation control and coordination are provided as well as their classification. Second, a comprehensive literature review of formation control strategies is introduced. Moreover, an overview on fault detection and diagnosis and fault-tolerant cooperative control of UGVs is presented. Finally, open problems, challenges, and future directions are highlighted.