Abstract
This paper provides a framework for planning and control of formations of multiple unmanned ground vehicles with trailers to traverse between goal points in an idealized, disturbance-free environment. This framework allows on-line planning of the formations using the A* search algorithm based on current sensor data. The formation is allowed to dynamically change in order to avoid obstacles in the environment while minimizing a cost function aimed at obtaining collision-free and deadlock-free paths. Based on a feasible path for a leader of the group and the differential flatness property of a truck-tractor-trailer system, the trajectory planner satisfies the kinematic constraints of the individual vehicles while accounting for inter-vehicle collisions and path constraints. Also, optimization techniques are used to on-line change the path of the truck-tractor-trailer system. Illustrative simulations with simplified models of John Deere vehicles with trailers in formations are presented. Laboratory experiments are also performed on a 2-wheel differential drive mobile vehicle attached with a trailer cart on a flat, smooth floor using overhead cameras for precise references. The concluding section of the paper discusses some of the additional work needed to make the results applicable in a real-world environment.
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Yongxing Hao received the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering with specialty in Automatic Control and Robotics from the University of Delaware, Newark, DE, in 2004.
Prior to joining Hurco Companies, Inc. in 2005, he was a Research Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at West Virginia University Institute of Technology. He received his M.S. and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Beijing University of Technology and North China University of Technology in 1998 and 1995, respectively.He is a member of IEEE. His research interests include motion planning, controls, robotics, optimization, multi-agent systems and their applications in planning and control of UGVs, UAVs and CNC machines.
Sunil K. Agrawal received the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, Stanford, CA, in 1990.
He has worked in universities, government laboratories, and industries throughout the world. He is currently a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Delaware, Newark. His research has made contributions in robotics and control, including novel designs of robots and autonomous systems, computational algorithms for planning and optimization of dynamic systems. His work has yielded over 140 technical publications and two books.
Dr. Agrawal received the National Science Foundation Presidential Faculty Fellowship from the White House and a Freidrich Wilheim Bessel prize from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. He was elected to be a Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineers in February 2004.
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Hao, Y., Agrawal, S.K. Formation Planning and Control of UGVs with Trailers. Auton Robot 19, 257–270 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10514-005-4750-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10514-005-4750-7