Constraint-aware coordinated construction of generic structures

This paper presents a constraint-aware decentralized approach to construction with teams of robots. We present an extension to existing work on a distributed controller for robotic construction of simple structures. Our previous work described a set of adaptive algorithms for constructing truss structures given a target geometry using continuous and graph-based equal-mass partitioning [1], [2]. Using this work as a foundation, we present an algorithm which performs construction tasks and conforms to physical constraints while considering those constraints to parallelize tasks. This is accomplished by defining a mass function which reflects the priority of part placement and prevents physically impossible states. This mass function generates a set of pointmasses in ℝn, and we present a novel algorithm for finding a locally optimal, equal-mass, convex tessellation of such a set.

[1]  F. P. Preparata,et al.  Convex hulls of finite sets of points in two and three dimensions , 1977, CACM.

[2]  Sonia Martínez,et al.  Coverage control for mobile sensing networks , 2002, IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation.

[3]  Paul Yiu,et al.  The uses of homogeneous barycentric coordinates in plane Euclidean geometry , 2000 .

[4]  Daniela Rus,et al.  Adaptation to robot failures and shape change in decentralized construction , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[5]  Mac Schwager,et al.  Decentralized, Adaptive Control for Coverage with Networked Robots , 2007, Proceedings 2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[6]  Daniela Rus,et al.  Distributed coverage with mobile robots on a graph: Locational optimization , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[7]  Matthew Faulkner,et al.  Experiments in decentralized robot construction with tool delivery and assembly robots , 2010, 2010 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[8]  Qian Wang,et al.  The equitable location problem on the plane , 2007, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[9]  Mac Schwager,et al.  Adaptive Coordinating Construction of Truss Structures Using Distributed Equal-Mass Partitioning , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[10]  Jorge Cortes,et al.  Distributed Control of Robotic Networks: A Mathematical Approach to Motion Coordination Algorithms , 2009 .

[11]  Radhika Nagpal,et al.  Three-Dimensional Construction with Mobile Robots and Modular Blocks , 2008, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[12]  G Theraulaz,et al.  Coordination in Distributed Building , 1995, Science.

[13]  Hod Lipson,et al.  Planning the reconfiguration of grounded truss structures with truss climbing robots that carry truss elements , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[14]  Spring Berman,et al.  Stochastic strategies for a swarm robotic assembly system , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[15]  Emilio Frazzoli,et al.  Distributed policies for equitable partitioning: Theory and applications , 2008, 2008 47th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control.

[16]  Daniela Rus,et al.  Optimal distributed planning for self assembly of modular manipulators , 2008, 2008 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.