This paper proposes a formation control method by using one-dimensional (1D) distance sensors, e.g. LED-based PSD sensors. These sensors enhance the mobility of the multi-robots because they can be equipped with small-payload robots. Note that only by the information on 1D distances from other robots, their center positions cannot be correctly identified. Moreover, the robots have to control their attitudes to detect other robots, which is a special requirement for using the 1D distance sensors. In this paper, we design a formation controller which requires only the information on the 1D distances. The controller consists of two parts: the position control to achieve formation and the attitude control to direct the sensors to other robots. Moreover, we propose a sensor detection network topology with which the formation is successfully achieved. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated by a simulation result. (C) 2016, (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.