Consensus formation control of wheeled mobile robots with mixed disturbances under input constraints

This paper addresses the problem of distributed consensus-based formation control for wheeled mobile robots (WMRs) under the influence of mixed disturbances, including both random noise and non-random disturbances. A consensus formation auxiliary subsystem is constructed based on the leader’s position estimated by the distributed estimator. A formation tracking subsystem for each robot is constructed based on the trajectory tracking error method. The above two subsystems are constructed into an extended formation modeling system. Further, a distributed model predictive control (DMPC) is designed to control this system without disturbance, and the controller is solved by means of a general-purpose neural network. A combination of Kalman filter (KF) and extended state observer (ESO) is intended to reduce the effect of both non-random disturbances and random noise, hence increasing the controller’s resilience to disturbances. Moreover, a composite control law is designed to ensure the controller’s effectiveness. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that the proposed control strategy is well-suited to addressing the problem, as it not only achieves accurate formation control but also effectively regulates the robot’s physical constraints while suppressing both non-random disturbances and random noise.