Robust Collision-Avoidance Formation Navigation of Velocity and Input-Constrained Multirobot Systems

In this work, we consider the safe deployment problem of multiple robots in an obstacle-rich complex environment. When a team of velocity and input-constrained robots is required to move from one area to another, a robust collision-avoidance formation navigation method is needed to achieve safe transferring. The constrained dynamics and the external disturbances make the safe formation navigation a challenging problem. A novel robust control barrier function-based method is proposed which enables collision avoidance under globally bounded control input. First, a nominal velocity and input-constrained formation navigation controller is designed which uses only the relative position information based on a predefined-time convergent observer. Then, new robust safety barrier conditions are derived for collision avoidance. Finally, a local quadratic optimization problem-based safe formation navigation controller is proposed for each robot. Simulation examples and comparison with existing results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.