Multi-robot cooperative deployment for high sensory interest regions of dynamic scalar fields with unknown parameters

This paper investigates a multi-robot collaborative deployment problem to high sensory interest regions in dynamic scalar fields with unknown parameters. For this problem, a leader-follower framework is put forth, which includes a guidance process for leaders and a tracking process for followers. In the guidance process, combined with coverage control theory, sliding mode principles and velocity estimators, a guidance law with predefined-time mechanisms is proposed for leaders represented by double-integrator models in the absence of velocity measurements, where a parameter observer and a differential estimator are designed to identify some unknown information, such that reference trajectories from leaders are generated in dynamic scalar fields with unknown parameters. In the tracking process, based on backstepping techniques, outer-loop and inner-loop controllers without velocity information are developed for followers represented by nonholonomic robots in the unknown case of external disturbances and dynamic parameters, where adaptive strategies are put forward to restrain disturbance influences and estimate unknown parameters, and differential estimators are built to reconstruct the derivative information of some variables, such that followers are driven to track the trajectory of leaders. In order to reduce communication burdens between the outer-loop controller and the follower, an event-triggering controller is presented as an extended control policy. Ultimately, simulation tests are given to verify the effectiveness of the provided approach. (c) 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.