Backstepping Design for Circular Formation Control of Dynamic Nonholonomic Vehicles

This paper explores the problem of distributed circular formation control for networked dynamic nonholonomic vehicles. The topology among the networked vehicles is described by a directed graph. A backstepping-based distributed control law, which requires each vehicle to use local measurement and communication, is proposed for the kinematic and dynamic models of nonholonomic vehicles. The study demonstrates that all vehicles can achieve global convergence to a predetermined circular trajectory while revolving around the target. Furthermore, they can also globally converge to a desired formation with appropriate spacing along the circular path. Finally, a simulation example is presented to illustrate the result.