Leader-follower target interception control of multi-robotic vehicles with holonomic dynamics based on unscented Kalman filter

Interception of a moving target with unknown motion variables demands accurate estimation and prediction schemes. This paper investigates the target interception control of multi-robotic vehicles with holonomic dynamics employing unscented Kalman filter (UKF)-based state estimation scheme. A torque-level leader-follower control law that uses the dynamic model of the vehicles is proposed by exploiting the notion of graph rigidity as well as the backstepping technique for intercepting the moving target using a well-formulated distance-based framework. Moreover, the target interception component of the proposed control law comprises the estimates of the target variables obtained using the UKF algorithm. The inclusion of these estimates in the control law results in a smooth control signal when compared to the chattering-like appearance of the control signal resulting from the variable structure terms included in the control law reported in previous works. Furthermore, using the input-output as well as Lyapunov stability notions the exponential convergence to the desired formation while intercepting the moving target is established. Finally, simulation results are provided to prove the effectiveness of the proposed control law. A comparison with a dynamic state estimation mechanism for a certain scenario portrays an 82.65% reduction in the average RMS value of control input along with a 93.73% reduction in the average normalized control energy. The superiority of the proposed technique is further demonstrated by the chattering-free control signal.

Automated summary

This paper proposes a torque-level leader-follower control law using the dynamic model of multi-robotic vehicles for target interception. The control law includes the estimates of target variables obtained using the UKF algorithm. The proposed technique achieves smooth control signals and exponential convergence to the desired formation when intercepting the moving target.