Moving-Target Enclosing Control for Multiple Nonholonomic Mobile Agents Under Input Disturbances

This paper investigates a moving-target enclosing control problem of multiple nonholonomic mobile agents subject to unknown heterogeneous input disturbances. The agents are required to move around the target and perform an expected spacing between neighboring agents. First, a distribution algorithm is used to generate desired circular trajectories, which can be referenced by the agents. Simultaneously, an adaptive observer of each agent is proposed to estimate the disturbances. Then based on the desired circular trajectories and the estimations, a dynamic controller is designed to let the agents globally converge to the desired circular formation. Finally, effectiveness of the method is verified through simulation.