Robust formation-tracking control of mobile robots in a spanning-tree topology

Abstract. We solve the formation-tracking control problem for mobile robots via linear control, under the assumption that each agent communicates only with one “leader” robot and with one follower. As in the classical tracking control problem for nonholonomic systems, the swarm is driven by a fictitious robot which moves about freely and which is leader to one robot only. For a spanning-tree topology we show that persistency of excitation on the velocity of the virtual leader is sufficient and necessary to achieve consensus tracking. Furthermore, we establish uniform global exponential stability for the error system which implies robustness with respect to additive bounded disturbances. From a graph viewpoint, our main result corroborates that the existence of a spanning tree is necessary and sufficient for consensus as opposed to the usual but restrictive assumption of all-to-all undirected communication.