Dynamic role assignment for cooperative robots

Proposes a methodology for coordinating multi-robot teams in the execution of cooperative tasks. It is based on a dynamic role-assignment mechanism in which the robots assume and exchange roles during cooperation. We model the role assignment under a hybrid systems framework, using a hybrid automaton to represent roles, transitions and controllers. Using a multi-robot simulator, the methodology is demonstrated in a cooperative transportation task, in which a group of robots must find and cooperatively transport several objects scattered in the environment.

[1]  Tucker R. Balch,et al.  Communication in reactive multiagent robotic systems , 1995, Auton. Robots.

[2]  Thomas A. Henzinger,et al.  The Algorithmic Analysis of Hybrid Systems , 1995, Theor. Comput. Sci..

[3]  Jane Yung-jen Hsu,et al.  Cooperation and deadlock-handling for an object-sorting task in a multi-agent robotic system , 1995, Proceedings of 1995 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[4]  G. Whelan,et al.  Cooperative search and rescue with a team of mobile robots , 1997, 1997 8th International Conference on Advanced Robotics. Proceedings. ICAR'97.

[5]  C. Ronald Kube,et al.  Task Modelling in Collective Robotics , 1997, Auton. Robots.

[6]  Joel W. Burdick,et al.  Grasps and Fixtures , 1998 .

[7]  Sarit Kraus,et al.  Methods for Task Allocation via Agent Coalition Formation , 1998, Artif. Intell..

[8]  Lynne E. Parker,et al.  ALLIANCE: an architecture for fault tolerant multirobot cooperation , 1998, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[9]  Manuela M. Veloso,et al.  Task Decomposition, Dynamic Role Assignment, and Low-Bandwidth Communication for Real-Time Strategic Teamwork , 1999, Artif. Intell..

[10]  Riccardo Rosati,et al.  Coordination in multi-agent autonomous cognitive robotic systems , 2000 .

[11]  Maja J. Mataric,et al.  Broadcast of Local Elibility for Multi-Target Observation , 2000, DARS.

[12]  Maja J. Mataric,et al.  Principled Communication for Dynamic Multi-robot Task Allocation , 2000, ISER.

[13]  Vijay Kumar,et al.  Metrics for analysis and optimization of grasps and fixtures , 2000, Proceedings 2000 ICRA. Millennium Conference. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Symposia Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37065).

[14]  Vijay Kumar,et al.  An architecture for tightly coupled multi-robot cooperation , 2001, Proceedings 2001 ICRA. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.01CH37164).