Research on framework for formation control of multiple underwater robots in a dynamic environment

In this paper a practical framework is proposed to keep formation control of multiple underwater robots in a dynamic environment. The approach is a viable solution to solve formation problem. The approach allows online planning of the formation paths using a Dijkstra’s search algorithm based on the current sensor data. The formation is allowed to be dynamically changed in order to avoid obstacles in the environment. A controller is designed to keep the robots in their planned trajectories. It is shown that the approach is effective and feasible by the simulation of computer. Supported by the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program from the Ministry of Education (20020217005) and by Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (F0308)