Cooperative robot team navigation strategies based on an environment model

Abstract

This paper addresses a flexible cooperative navigation system for small robot teams. The members of these groups move in formation, but with enough flexibility to be able to avoid obstacles and adapt to the environment shape. This approach is based on an analysis of the environment on a grid-based model that permits each robot to continuously evaluate the situation in which it is, in order to decide the best of the three developed navigation strategies, one for each situation type. Moreover, by using this model the robot cooperation for a coordinate navigation is improved, allowing each robot to share the observations with the other robots. So the field of view of each robot of the team on which it makes the decisions is enlarged. The system is implemented in a decentralized way so the number of robots is not a main issue, thus being scalable. Eventually, initial formation topology can be modified, in order to comply with the environment while the mission is accomplished. The system and the strategies are evaluated by means of simulations, showing the robustness against possible blocking situations.