Motion generation for formations of robots_ a geometric approach - Robotics and Automation, 2001. Proceedings 2001 ICRA. IEEE International Conference on

This paper deiielops a method for generating smooth trajectories f o r mobile robots in formation. The problem of trajectory generation is cast in terms of designing optimal curves on the Euclidean group, SE(3 ) . Specifically, the method generates the trajectory that minimizes the total energy associated with the translations and rotations of the robots, while maintaining a rigid formation. W h e n the mobile robots are nonholonomic, trajectories that allow rigid formations to be maintained mus t satisfy appropriate constraints. An efficient non-iterative algorithm to obtain near-optimal trajectories is described. Finally, the approach i s illustrated with examples involving formations of aircrafts.