Cooperative convex control of multiagent systems applied to differential drive robots

Abstract

This work proposes a convex cooperative control scheme for a multiagent system of differential mobile robots in a leader–follower formation. First, the kinematic model of the differential robots is obtained in a linear parameter varying representation. Next, a reference model approach is considered to track the desired trajectory. The paper’s contribution is then to derive conditions to guarantee the convergence of the convex controller, which is achieved using a non-quadratic Lyapunov function. Subsequently, this control law is integrated into the agent that leads a distributed control protocol based on graph theory designed to reach the consensus of the followers. Simulations of five mobile robots are performed to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.