Modular Design and Implementation of Formation Motion Planning System for Multi-unmanned Vehicles

This article develops a motion planning system that combines path planning and formation control for multi-unmanned vehicles. The system adopts a modular design method, including three parts: path planning, formation control, and communication. The overall navigation system employs a leader-following strategy. Considering the ambient environment, the leader vehicle generates an optimal trajectory and corresponding velocity control commands by using the Time Elastic Band (TEB) path planning technique. The control module uses the distributed control scheme for altering the followers’ velocity, aiming to follow the leader vehicle and form the expected formation. The communication module uses UDP communication strategy to transmit parameter information among vehicles. Finally, based on the proposed motion planning system, we conducted formation obstacle avoidance experiments in ROS to verify the effectiveness of the designed structure.