The academic and technical developments of multi-robot systems (MRSs) have attracted great attention over past decades. Benefitting from the growth and expansion of high-speed communication networks, MRSs have been applied in a vast range of areas. This thesis presents a collaborative parcel moving approach in a warehouse using a MRS that consists of low-cost ground vehicles. Given a rectangular box of goods, it is aimed at firmly clamping and transporting the goods using a network of unicycle mobile robots. The problem is formulated based on formation theory, where a virtual formation leader is constructed at the centre of the box such that the formation trajectory is independent of the robot population. With the avoidance of an advance path planning process for all robots, the propose...[ Read more ]

The academic and technical developments of multi-robot systems (MRSs) have attracted great attention over past decades. Benefitting from the growth and expansion of high-speed communication networks, MRSs have been applied in a vast range of areas. This thesis presents a collaborative parcel moving approach in a warehouse using a MRS that consists of low-cost ground vehicles. Given a rectangular box of goods, it is aimed at firmly clamping and transporting the goods using a network of unicycle mobile robots. The problem is formulated based on formation theory, where a virtual formation leader is constructed at the centre of the box such that the formation trajectory is independent of the robot population. With the avoidance of an advance path planning process for all robots, the proposed method is time effective and user-friendly. Additionally, the proposed control strategy ensures the convergence of tracking error. In addition to presenting the theoretical approach, feasibility has been demonstrated through experiments on a real robotic testbed.