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Synchronization Control for a Swarm of Unicycle Robots: Analysis of Different Controller Topologies
Author(s) -
Gutiérrez H.,
Morales A.,
Nijmeijer H.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
asian journal of control
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.769
H-Index - 53
eISSN - 1934-6093
pISSN - 1561-8625
DOI - 10.1002/asjc.1497
Subject(s) - network topology , synchronization (alternating current) , control theory (sociology) , robot , controller (irrigation) , trajectory , swarm behaviour , lyapunov stability , computer science , lyapunov function , nonlinear system , control engineering , topology (electrical circuits) , control (management) , engineering , artificial intelligence , computer network , agronomy , physics , electrical engineering , astronomy , quantum mechanics , biology
Abstract This paper proposes a nonlinear synchronization controller for a swarm of unicycle robots performing a cooperative task, i.e. , following a desired trajectory per robot while maintaining a prescribed formation. The effect of communication between robots is analyzed and several network topologies are investigated, e.g. , all‐to‐all, ring type, undirected, among others. The stability analysis of the closed loop system is provided using the Lyapunov method. Experiments with four unicycle robots are presented to validate the control law and communication analysis. Accumulated errors over the experiment time are presented in order to determine which topology is most efficient.