Consensus-Based Formation Control with Time Synchronization for a Decentralized Group of Mobile Robots.

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Control Systems Engineering
• Distributed Systems

Background:

• Controlling formations of mobile robots is a key research area.
• Existing methods often neglect time synchronization in decentralized robot groups.
• Improving movement accuracy necessitates addressing synchronization challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a two-layer synchronous motion control system for decentralized mobile robot groups.
• To integrate dynamic time synchronization into the control algorithm for enhanced accuracy.
• To maintain desired group formation and robot synchronization during movement.

Main Methods:

• A two-layer control system architecture: a master layer and a sublayer.
• Sublayer: trajectory tracking using kinematic and dynamic controllers (linear and angular velocity).
• Master layer: consensus tracking and virtual structure algorithms for formation and synchronization.

Main Results:

• Simulation studies in MATLAB/Simulink validated the system's functionality.
• Laboratory tests using real robots under ROS confirmed the control quality.
• The proposed system demonstrated effective synchronization and formation maintenance.

Conclusions:

• The developed two-layer synchronous control system effectively manages decentralized mobile robot formations.
• Dynamic time synchronization significantly improves the accuracy of group robot movement.
• The system is applicable to transportation, logistics, and other multi-robot coordination tasks.