Distributed algorithms for formation of geometric patterns with many mobile robots

We discuss a method for controlling a group of mobile robots in a distributed manner. The method is distributed in the sense that all robots, or most of the robots in some cases, plan their motion individually based upon the given goal of the group and the observed positions of other robots. We illustrate the method by showing how a large number of robots can form an approximation of a circle, a simple polygon, or a line segment in the plane. We also show how the robots can distribute themselves nearly uniformly within a circle or a convex polygon in the plane. Finally, we show how the robots can be divided into two or more groups. It turns out that in many cases most robots execute an identical, simple algorithm. The performance of the method is demonstrated by simulation. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

[1]  Jing Wang,et al.  Cellular Robotic Systems: Self-organizing Robots And Kinetic Pattern Generation , 2002, IEEE International Workshop on Intelligent Robots.

[2]  Tomás Lozano-Pérez,et al.  An algorithm for planning collision-free paths among polyhedral obstacles , 1979, CACM.

[3]  D. Dooling.  Technology 1993 - Aerospace and military , 1993, IEEE Spectrum.

[4]  Dit-Yan Yeung,et al.  A decentralized approach to the motion planning problem for multiple mobile robots , 1987, Proceedings. 1987 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[5]  Pierre Tournassoud.  A strategy for obstacle avoidance and its application to mullti-robot systems , 1986, Proceedings. 1986 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[6]  Matthew Turk,et al.  The Autonomous Land Vehicle (ALV) Preliminary Road-Following Demonstration , 1985, Other Conferences.

[7]  Jonathan H. Connell.  Creature Design with the Subsumption Architecture , 1987, IJCAI.

[8]  Rodney A. Brooks,et al.  A Robot that Walks; Emergent Behaviors from a Carefully Evolved Network , 1989, Neural Computation.

[9]  Nils J. Nilsson,et al.  A mobius automation: an application of artificial intelligence techniques , 1969, IJCAI 1969.

[10]  Hans P. Moravec,et al.  The Stanford Cart and the CMU Rover , 1983, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[11]  Kikuo Fujimura.  A model of reactive planning for multiple mobile agents , 1991, Proceedings. 1991 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[12]  Masafumi Yamashita,et al.  Computing on an anonymous network , 1988, PODC '88.

[13]  J. A. Adam.  Aerospace and military: Sandia builds a tough compact computer, the autonomous land vehicle takes a spin, and the Sergeant York gun is axed , 1986, IEEE Spectrum.

[14]  Hans P. Moravec.  Rover Visual Obstacle Avoidance , 1981, IJCAI.

[15]  Takeo Kanade,et al.  Autonomous land vehicle project at CMU , 1986, CSC '86.

[16]  Masafumi Yamashita,et al.  Formation and agreement problems for synchronous mobile robots with limited visibility , 1995, Proceedings of Tenth International Symposium on Intelligent Control.

[17]  Steven W. Zucker,et al.  Trajectory Planning In Time-Varying Environments, 1: TPP = PPP + VPP , 1985, Other Conferences.

[18]  Rodney A. Brooks.  A hardware retargetable distributed layered architecture for mobile robot control , 1987, Proceedings. 1987 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[19]  Rodney A. Brooks,et al.  Asynchronous Distributed Control System For A Mobile Robot , 1987, Other Conferences.

[20]  Maja J. Mataric,et al.  Minimizing complexity in controlling a mobile robot population , 1992, Proceedings 1992 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[21]  Moshe Tennenholtz,et al.  Emergent Conventions in Multi-Agent Systems: Initial Experimental Results and Observations (Preliminary Report) , 1992, KR.

[22]  James L. Crowley,et al.  Navigation for an intelligent mobile robot , 1985, IEEE J. Robotics Autom..

[23]  Ichiro Suzuki,et al.  Distributed motion coordination of multiple mobile robots , 1990, Proceedings. 5th IEEE International Symposium on Intelligent Control 1990.

[24]  Jonathan H. Connell,et al.  SSS: a hybrid architecture applied to robot navigation , 1992, Proceedings 1992 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[25]  Maja J. Mataric,et al.  Integration of representation into goal-driven behavior-based robots , 1992, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[26]  James S. Albus,et al.  Overview of the multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (MAUV) project , 1988, Proceedings. 1988 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[27]  Masafumi Yamashita,et al.  A Theory of Distributed Anonymous Mobile Robots Formation and Agreement Problems. , 1994 .

[28]  Rodney A. Brooks,et al.  Intelligence Without Reason , 1991, IJCAI.

[29]  Rodney A. Brooks,et al.  A Robust Layered Control Syste For A Mobile Robot , 2022 .

[30]  Toshio Fukuda,et al.  Approach to the dynamically reconfigurable robotic system , 1988, J. Intell. Robotic Syst..