A Formation Strategy Relying on Monotrajectory Planning for Velocity-Constrained Wheeled Mobile Robots With Application to Cooperative Transportation

This article investigates the formation problem for multiple wheeled mobile robots (WMRs) with velocity constraints along a given path. A formation strategy relying on monotrajectory planning is proposed. The underlying idea of the proposed strategy involves planning a feasible trajectory for WMRs using the feedback control method, while considering their velocity constraints. The linear and angular velocity constraints of WMRs are formulated into a unified representation, providing a more practical and engineering-oriented description. Once this trajectory is generated, a formation controller based on the coordinated control method is designed for each WMR, ensuring that they achieve and maintain the desired formation while tracking the planned trajectory. Furthermore, the proposed strategy is applied to cooperative transportation tasks. Comparative experiments are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness, advantages, and generalization capability of the proposed strategy.