A Cellular Automata-Based Path-Planning for a Cooperative and Decentralized Team of Robots

Abstract

This work proposes a cellular automata-based model to solve a path-planning and formation control problem for a team of robots using local rules and discrete states. Planning collision-free trajectories is essential for autonomous robots when moving in unknown environments. The complexity of this task increases in multi-robot systems, in particular when all robots must adjust their path in order to keep their initial team formation pattern. Here, a decentralized and autonomous robot team path-planning model is proposed and tested. The proposed method is implemented on a simulation environment and on real e-puck robots. Results show improvements in the overall team efficiency and robustness in different scenarios using minimal robot-robot communication load.