Distributed Planning for Rigid Robot Formations Using Consensus on the Transformation of a Base Configuration

Abstract

Coordinated movement among multiple robots is crucial in various multi-robot operations. This paper presents a novel approach to multi-robot formation planning. The proposed method builds upon distributed feasible rigid for-mation planning, finding a set of motions that allow robots to navigate while keeping an a priori determined formation shape. By mapping desired velocities into a parameter space, performing consensus and constraint steps, and remapping to robot velocities, the algorithm ensures that the robots maintain formation. The efficacy and runtime efficiency have been evaluated through simulations, demonstrating its promise for deployment on computation-limited robots.