Distributed Robust Finite-Time Formation Control Without Global Information: Theory and Experiment

The aim of this investigation is to solve the formation control problem in the case of without global position information, such as indoor environments or GPS-denied areas. A novel distributed finite-time differentiator only using of relative position is proposed to estimate the relative position/velocity for all agents. Based on the Lyapunov method, the finite-time stability of the closed-loop system is rigorously proved in the absence of measurement errors. In the case of measurement errors, the robustness of the distributed finite-time differentiator is also analyzed. Finally, a distributed differentiator-based finite-time formation control algorithm is designed such that the control objective can be achieved. The feasibility of the proposed method is applied to multiple mobile robots and verified through simulation and experimental results.