ROS based Experimental Testbed for Multi-Robot Formation Control

Abstract

This paper details the design and implementation of an experimental testbed of a group of three mini-sized mobile robots focused on trajectory tracking formation control. A cascade architecture is proposed which consists of an internal speed control in series with an external controller that helps to maintain the desired formation and posture of the group at all times. The pose of each robot is tracked based on artificial vision and the ArUco reference markers. This monitoring component together with the communication and control systems are implemented on ROS (Robotic Operating System) which facilitates the interconnection between these modules. The results using different predefined trajectories demonstrate the robustness of the controller on maintaining the formation while tracking the desired path.