Leader-follower formation control of multiple nonholonomic robots based on backstepping

This paper considers a new leader-follower formation control framework. The trajectory tracking control for a single nonholonomic robot is extended to the formation control for multiple mobile nonholonomic robots. Applying the backstepping approach, the asymptotically stable control law for formation control of the mobile robots are developed, which not only guarantee that the mobile robots achieve and maintain the desired formation, but also guarantee that each follower robot tracks its leader's time-varying trajectory. Stability analysis is provided by using Lyapunov theory. Finally, some simulation results are used to verify the theoretical results presented in this paper.