M.J. Mataric, Dept. of Comput. Sci., Brandeis Univ., Waltham, MA, USA
M. Nilsson, Dept. of Comput. Sci., Brandeis Univ., Waltham, MA, USA
K.T. Simsarin, Dept. of Comput. Sci., Brandeis Univ., Waltham, MA, USA
This paper deals with the communication in task-sharing between two autonomous six-legged robots equipped with object and goal sensing, and a repertoire of contact and light-following behaviors. The performance of pushing an elongated box towards a goal region is difficult for a single robot and improves significantly when performed cooperatively, but requires careful coordination between the robots. We present and experimentally demonstrate an approach that utilizes cooperation at three levels: sensing, action, and control, and takes the advantage of a simple communication protocol to compensate for the robots' noisy and uncertain sensing.
Index Terms:
mobile robots; cooperative systems; protocols; optical tracking; learning systems; intelligent control; cooperative multiple robot system; box-pushing; communication protocol; task-sharing; autonomous six-legged robots; goal sensing; object sensing; light-following behaviors; coordination; learning systems
Citation:
M.J. Mataric, M. Nilsson, K.T. Simsarin, "Cooperative multi-robot box-pushing," iros, vol. 3, pp.3556, International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems-Volume 3, 1995