A MARKET APPROACH TO TIGHTLY-COUPLED MULTI-ROBOT COORDINATION: FIRST RESULTS

Abstract

In multi-robot systems, a group of robots cooperate to accomplish tasks more efficiently than could a single robot. In this paper, we apply the market approach to the problem of tightly-coupled, distributed control of a multi-robot team. In this approach, the robots act in a self-interested manner to maximize their profits. Since profit is tied to accomplishment of the group task, the robots act to advance the team objectives. The robots achieve tight coordination by repeatedly evaluating finegrained actions, reacting to their team members ’ actions in the process. We present preliminary results on the application of the market approach to the sweeping perimeter problem, a task with implications in security and the mapping of dynamic environments.