Edge-Based Communication-Triggered Formation Tracking Control With Application to Multiple Mobile Robots

This article considers the distributed leader–follower formation tracking control problem for a networked linear multiagent system (MAS) consisting of one nonautonomous leader and multiple homogeneous followers in a sample-data-based edge-event-triggering communication setting. A novel edge-state-estimate-based triggering function along with a triggering rule is proposed for each communication edge to regulate and reduce unnecessary data transmission. A new distributed formation tracking protocol is then developed for each follower based on only event-generator-regulated information. The formation tracking problem is reformulated as a stability analysis problem of a delayed system by defining the formation error dynamics. Lyapunov-based methods and linear matrix inequality (LMI) techniques are utilized to derive sufficient conditions for codesigning the event-generator and controller gains that ensure the asymptotic and exponential convergence of the closed-loop formation error dynamics. Numerical simulations and experimental implementations were carried out using a group of four unicycle-type mobile robots to demonstrate and validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.