The effects of the swarm configuration and the obstacles placement on control signals transmission delays in decentralized ROS-embedded group of mobile robots

Abstract

The article presents the results of research on the delay of control signals transmission in a group of robots with a decentralized structure. Based on assumptions regarding decentralized systems, a measuring system consisting of three ROS-embedded robots and control center was developed. Then, in the laboratory, delays of the control signals sent from the control unit and received by the respective robots are measured. The delays have been checked for various swarm configurations and additional obstacles (eg walls, panes) on the control signals transmission path have been taken into account. The next step was to check the impact of interference from additional wireless networks created in the test environment on control signals transmission in the tested robot group. It has been demonstrated that time synchronization of robots in a decentralized group for its proper functioning is necessary.