Coordination and control of a team of mobile robots

In this paper, the coordinate motion of a team of mobile robots is dealt with. The problem is first stated in a general way and then faced by means of a team-control theory approach. As a result we have a method which can span from complete to null coordination as well as from classical trajectory planning techniques to the so-called 'best first decision', and generates feedback control laws. The approach is stated in such a way that one can use different degree of detail in representing the physical aspects of the problem, and then it can be used also in connection with other techniques such as motion control of non-holonomic systems. Moreover, considering a particular instance of the method, a solution is proposed, which generalizes the classical approaches based on conservative force fields, and it can be implemented in real-time. Some simulation examples are given to support the proposed approach.