Formation Control and Experiment for Propeller‐Driven Car‐Like Robots With Amplitude and Rate Saturation Under Jointly Connected Topology

ABSTRACT In this paper, a formation controller for propeller‐driven car‐like robots is developed, which is subject to input amplitude, rate saturation, and the jointly connected topology. First, the model of the propeller‐driven car‐like robot is established, where actuator dynamics, amplitude, and rate saturation are considered. Second, the Gauss integration function is used to approximate the input saturation. Rate saturation will be converted into command input saturation and will be achieved by an auxiliary system. Third, the formation controller is developed based on the backstepping control method, where the adaptive robust controller and neural networks are combined to deal with unmodeled dynamics and external disturbances. According to the Lyapunov stability theory, it is proved that the propeller‐driven multirobot system will be stable under the developed controller, while signals in the closed‐loop system are ultimately uniformly bounded. Finally, simulation and experiment results verify the effectiveness of the proposed formation control scheme.