Cooperative Transportation of Mobile Manipulators With Collision Avoidance

Abstract: In this work, we propose two Nonlinear Model Predictive Control(NMPC) schemes, Decentralized Nonlinear Model Predictive Control(DNMPC) and Centralized Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (CNMPC),for cooperative transportation of an object, which is rigidlygrasped by N agents. We use feedback linearization and model reductionto reduce overall complexity of the model. We also providea mathematical proof for feasibility and convergence of the schemes.Finally, we use simulations and experiments to validate the robustnessand efficiency of the proposed schemes.