Optimized Formation Control in Undulating Fields

Formation control is a fundamental problem in multi-robot systems, particularly challenging in unstructured environments such as undulating fields. In this paper, we propose formation control for multiple robots in undulating fields with optimised tilt stability and path following. The desired formation is defined in the local frame of the leader robot. We propose target-chasing control for wheeled robots, and the follower robots chase the target formation positions with speed consensus. To improve operational safety, we incorporate target chasing and tilt stabilisation to guarantee formation consensus and prevent toppling. An adaptive target-robot allocation strategy is introduced to reduce inter-robot collisions. We then propose a path following method while maintaining the integrity of the formation. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method improves both formation accuracy and robustness in complex environments.