Leader-follower co-ordination of multiple robots with obstacle avoidance

Robotics plays a major role in automation technology. Multi-robot co-ordination has its own significance and is of great interest in the field of robotics research in recent years. Leader-follower approach is the most preferred method for co-ordination of robots as it is a centralized control method which guarantees stability and tracking performance and known for its simplicity. In this work the leader robot is equipped with ultrasonic sensors to detect obstacles and to avoid collisions. The communication between the leader and follower robots is by using Bluetooth wireless technology. This communication uses UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter). The major objective of this research work is to navigate multiple mobile robots using leader-follower approach without collision of obstacles which is needed for many applications like formation of a geometrical pattern for a co-operative manipulation, collaborative mapping and exploration.