Coordinated multi-robot exploration

• Published in: IEEE transactions on robotics Vol. 21; no. 3; pp. 376 - 386
• Main Authors: Burgard, W., Moors, M., Stachniss, C., Schneider, F.E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01-06-2005; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Cleaning; Computer science; Computer science; control theory; systems; Control algorithms; Control theory. Systems; Coordinated behavior; Costs; Exact sciences and technology; limited communication; Mobile communication; mobile robotics; Mobile robots; multi-robot exploration; Navigation systems; Reconnaissance; Robot kinematics; Robot sensing systems; Robotics; Robots; Testing; Vision systems; Multiagent system; Coordination; Incomplete information; Target detection; Robotics
• ISSN: 1552-3098; 1941-0468
• DOI: 10.1109/TRO.2004.839232

In this paper, we consider the problem of exploring an unknown environment with a team of robots. As in single-robot exploration the goal is to minimize the overall exploration time. The key problem to be solved in the context of multiple robots is to choose appropriate target points for the individual robots so that they simultaneously explore different regions of the environment. We present an approach for the coordination of multiple robots, which simultaneously takes into account the cost of reaching a target point and its utility. Whenever a target point is assigned to a specific robot, the utility of the unexplored area visible from this target position is reduced. In this way, different target locations are assigned to the individual robots. We furthermore describe how our algorithm can be extended to situations in which the communication range of the robots is limited. Our technique has been implemented and tested extensively in real-world experiments and simulation runs. The results demonstrate that our technique effectively distributes the robots over the environment and allows them to quickly accomplish their mission.