In this paper, we present a framework and the software architecture for the deployment of multiple autonomous robots in an unstructured and unknown environment, with applications ranging from scouting and reconnaissance, to search and rescue, to manipulation tasks, to cooperative localization and mapping, and formation control. Our software framework allows a modular and hierarchical approach to programming deliberative and reactive behaviors in autonomous operation. Formal definitions for sequential composition, hierarchical composition, and parallel composition allow the bottom-up development of complex software systems. We demonstrate the algorithms and software on an experimental testbed that involves a group of carlike robots, each using a single omnidirectional camera as a sensor without explicit use of odometry.
AlurR., GrosuR., HurY., KumarV., and LeeI.2000a. Modular specifications of hybrid systems in CHARON. In LynchN. A., and KroghB. H., eds., Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control, LNCS 1790, pp. 6–19. Berlin: Springer.
2.
AlurR., HenzingerT., LafferriereG., and PappasG.2000b. Discrete abstractions of hybrid systems. Proc. IEEE, 88(7): 971–984.
3.
ArkinR.1998. Behavior-Based Robotics.MIT Press.
4.
BakerS., and NayarS.1998. A theory of catadioptric image formation. In International Conference on Computer Vision, pp. 35–42, Bombay, India.
5.
BalchT., and ArkinR.1998. Behavior-based formation control for multi-robotic teams. IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 14(6): 926–934.
6.
BeltaC., and KumarV.2001. Motion generation for formations of robots: A geometric approach. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 1245–1250, Seoul, Korea.
7.
BeniG., and LiangP.1996. Pattern reconfiguration in swarms-convergence of a distributed asynchronous and bounded iterative algorithm. IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 12(3): 485–490.
8.
BrooksR.1986. A robust layered control system for a mobile robot. IEEE Journal on Robotics and Automation, 2(1):14–23.
9.
BurgardW., MoorsM., FoxD., SimmonsR., and ThrunS.2000. Collaborative multi-robot exploration. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 476–481, San Francisco, CA.
10.
BurridgeR., RizziA., and KoditschekD.1999. Sequential composition of dynamically dexterous robot behaviors. International Journal of Robotics Research, 18(6): 534–555.
11.
ChenQ., and LuhJ. Y. S.1994. Coordination and control of a group of small mobile robots. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 3, pp. 2315–2320.
12.
DasA. K., FierroR., KumarV., OstrowskiJ. P., SpletzerJ., and TaylorC. J.2002. A vision-based formation control framework. IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 18(5): 813–825.
13.
DasA. K., FierroR., KumarV., SouthallB., SpletzerJ., and TaylorC.2001. Real-time vision-based control of a nonholonomic mobile robot. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 1714–1719, Seoul, Korea.
14.
De LucaA., OrioloG., and SamsonC.1998. Feedback control of a nonholonomic car-like robot. In LaumondJ.-P., editor, Robot Motion Planning and Control, pp. 171–253. London: Springer-Verlag.
15.
DesaiJ., KumarV., and OstrowskiJ. P.1999. Control of changes in formation for a team of mobile robots. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 1556–1561, Detroit, Michigan.
16.
DesaiJ. P., OstrowskiJ. P., and KumarV.2001. Modeling and control of formations of nonholonomic mobile robots. IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 17(6): 905–908.
17.
DonaldB., GariepyL., and RusD.2000. Distributed manipulation of multiple objects using ropes. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 450–457.
18.
FeddemaJ., and SchoenwaldD.2001. Decentralized control of cooperative robotic vehicles. In Proc. SPIE, Vol. 4364, Aerosense, Orlando, FL.
19.
FierroR., BeltaC., DesaiJ., and KumarV.2001a. On controlling aircraft formations. In Proc. IEEE Conf. on Decision and Control, pp. 1065–1070, Orlando, FL.
20.
FierroR., DasA., KumarV., and OstrowskiJ. P.2001b. Hybrid control of formations of robots. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 157–162, Seoul, Korea.
21.
FierroR., and LewisF. L.1997A framework for hybrid control design. IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern., 27-A(6): 765–773.
22.
FierroR., SongP., DasA. K., and KumarV.2002. Cooperative control of robot formations. In MurpheyR., and PardalosP., eds., Cooperative Control and Optimization, Vol. 66 of Applied Optimization, chapter 5, pp. 73–93. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
23.
GrudicG. Z., and UngarL. H.2000a. Localizing policy gradient estimates to action transitions. In Proc. 17th Int. Conf. on Machine Learning, Vol. 17, pp. 343–350. San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.
24.
GrudicG. Z., and UngarL. H.2000b. Localizing search in reinforcement learning. In Proc. 17th National Conf. on Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 17, pp. 590–595. Menlo Park, CA: AAAI/Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
25.
HartleyR., and ZissermanA.2000. Multiple View Geometry in Computer Vision.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
26.
JenningsJ. S., WhelanG., and EvansW. F.1997. Cooperative search and rescue with a team of mobile robots. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Advanced Robotics (ICAR), pp. 193–200, Monterey, CA.
KhatibO., YokoiK., ChangK., RuspiniD., HolmbergR., and CasalA.1996. Vehicle/arm coordination and mobile manipulator decentralized cooperation. In IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 546–553.
29.
KlavinsE., and KoditschekD.2000. A formalism for the composition of concurrent robot behaviors. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 4’ pp. 3395–3402, San Francisco, CA.
30.
KosugeK., HirataY., AsamaH., KaetsuH., and KawabataK.1999. Motion control of multiple autonomous mobile robots handling a large object in coordination. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 2666–2673, Detroit, MI.
31.
LawtonJ., YoungB., and BeardR.2000. Adecentralized approach to elementary formation maneuvers. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 2728–2733, San Francisco, CA.
32.
MatarićM.1995. Issues and approaches in the design of collective autonomous agents. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 16(2-4):321–331.
33.
MatarićM., NilssonM., and SimsarianK.1995. Cooperative multi-robot box pushing. In IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 556–561, Pittsburgh, PA.
34.
MorrowJ., and KhoslaP.1997. Manipulation task primitives for composing robot skills. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 4, pp. 3354–3359.
35.
ParkerL.1998. ALLIANCE: An architecture for fault tolerant multi-robot cooperation. IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 14(2): 220–240.
36.
ParkerL. E.2000. Current state of the art in distributed autonomous mobile robotics. In ParkerL. E., BekeyG., and BarhenJ., eds., Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems, Vol. 4, pp. 3–12. Tokyo: Springer.
37.
RoumeliotisS., and BekeyG.2000. Collective localization: A distributed kalman filter approach to localization of groups of mobile robots. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 2958–2965, San Francisco, CA.
38.
RusD., DonaldB., and JenningsJ.1995. Moving furniture with teams of autonomous robots. In IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 235–242, Pittsburgh, PA.
39.
SchreckenghostD., BonassoP., KortenkampD., and RyanD.1998. Three tier architecture for controlling space life support systems. In Proc. IEEE Int. Joint Symposia on Intelligence and Systems, pp. 195–201, Rockville, MD.
40.
SimmonsR., SinghS., HershbergerD., RamosJ., and SmithT.2000. Coordination of heterogeneous robots for large-scale assembly. In Proc. ISER00, 7th Int. Symposium on Experimental Robotics, pp. 311–320, Honolulu, Hawaii.
41.
SpletzerJ., DasA., FierroR., TaylorC. J., KumarV., and OstrowskiJ. P.2001. Cooperative localization and control for multi-robot manipulation. In IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 631–636, Maui, Hawaii.
42.
StilwellD., and BayJ.1993. Toward the development of a material transport system using swarms of ant-like robots. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 766–771, Atlanta, GA.
43.
StroupeA., MartinM., and BalchT.2001. Distributed sensor fusion for object position estimation by multi-robot systems. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 1092–1098, Seoul, Korea.
44.
SugarT., and KumarV.2000. Control and coordination of multiple mobile robots in manipulation and material handling tasks. In CorkeP., and TrevelyanJ., eds., Experimental Robotics VI: Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences, Vol. 250, pp. 15–24. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
45.
TabuadaP., PappasG., and LimaP.2001. Feasible formations of multi-agent systems. In Proc. American Control Conference, pp. 56–61, Arlington, VA.
46.
TanK. H., and LewisM. A.1997. Virtual structures for high precision cooperative mobile robot control. Autonomous Robots, 4: 387–403.
47.
TaylorC.J.2002. Videoplus:a method for capturing the structure and appearance of immersive environments. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 8(2): 171–182.
48.
Van der SchaftA., and SchumacherH.2000. An Introduction to Hybrid Dynamical Systems, Vol. 251 of Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences.London: Springer.
49.
VolpeR., NesnasI., EstlinT., MutzD., PetrasR., and DasH.2001. The CLARAty architecture for robotic autonomy. In Proc. IEEE Aerospace Conference, Vol. 1, pp. 121–132, Big Sky, MT.
50.
YamaguchiH., and BurdickJ. W.1998. Asymptotic stabilization of multiple nonholonomic mobile robots forming groups formations. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 3573–3580, Leuven, Belgium.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
