Leader-Follower Formation Control Based on Artificial Potential Field and Sliding Mode Control

This paper presents a leader-follower formation integrated control method based on artificial potential field (APF) and sliding mode control (SMC) in an unknown environment with obstacles. Firstly, the online path planning in formation control is executed via APF to find a collision-free path for leader from the initial position to the goal position. Then, the trajectory tracking controller is designed via SMC method to adjust the linear velocity and angular velocity of the followers to form and maintain the predefined formation. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed formation integrated control method has been verified by simulation.