Formation Control of Mobile Robots: Survey

Abstract

Robot formation control has drawn significant attention for many years, and now it is well understood and mature in its field. The goal of this survey is twofold. First, we update the current literature of formation control for ground mobile robots. Second, we classify publications on formation control by using a problem-oriented criterion. This classification includes formation shape generation, formation reconfiguration and selection, formation tracking, and role assignment in formation. We further categorize the common combination of the solutions into the following three components: system architectures, robot models, and formation control strategies. We also conclude by identifying some future research topics in formation control: further steps towards real-world applications, hybrid control frameworks, and networked systems and information consensus.