Leader-follower formation of marine craft using constraint forces and lagrange multipliers

In this paper, we make a connection between formation control of underactuated marine craft and modeling of constrained multibody systems. We propose a dynamic controller for master-slave formations, which accomplishes the path-maneuvering task of the master and the synchronization of the leaders with the master. Computer simulations are also conducted for identical INFANTE AUVs to verify the validity of the theoretical developments. Robustness with respect to irrotational constant ocean currents is also studied.