Finite-Time Observer-Based Formation Tracking With Application to Omnidirectional Robots

The challenging problem of robust formation control pertaining to omnidirectional robots with model uncertainty and actuator saturation is comprehensively investigated in this article. First, an observer-based formation controller is designed to ensure the semiglobal uniform ultimate boundedness of the system's formation tracking error. Then, both global stability and practical finite-time stability are achieved to ascertain the practicality of the observer design. Apart from restricting the control input amplitude, we also investigate the reverse effect caused by saturated and coupled control input. As such, an adaptive compensator is formulated to attenuate the state oscillation caused by the reverse effect. Both numerical simulations and hardware-in-the-loop experiments are carried out to illustrate and evaluate the effectiveness and potentials of the proposed new techniques for real-world applications.

Automated summary

This article comprehensively investigates the challenging problem of robust formation control for omnidirectional robots with model uncertainty and actuator saturation. An observer-based formation controller is designed to ensure the semiglobal uniform ultimate boundedness of the system's formation tracking error. Both global stability and practical finite-time stability are achieved through the observer design. The paper also proposes an adaptive compensator to attenuate the state oscillation caused by the reverse effect of saturated and coupled control input. Numerical simulations and hardware-in-the-loop experiments are conducted to illustrate and evaluate the effectiveness and potentials of the proposed techniques for real-world applications.