Ieee Transactions On

| New reactive behaviors that implement formations in multi-robot teams are presented and evaluated. The formation behaviors are integrated with other navi-gational behaviors to enable a robotic team to reach nav-igational goals, avoid hazards and simultaneously remain in formation. The behaviors are implemented in simulation , on robots in the laboratory and aboard DARPA's HMMWV-based Unmanned Ground Vehicles. The technique has been integrated with the Autonomous Robot Architecture (AuRA) and the UGV Demo II architecture. The results demonstrate the value of various types of formations in autonomous, human-led and communications-restricted applications, and their appropriateness in diierent types of task environments.