Functional decomposition method reveals the number of possible specifications of multi-robot system

Abstract

Number of robot classes in heterogeneous multi-robot systems refers to the number of different robot types in the system, where their members differ from others by any of features like mechanics, sensing or processing hardware, or by internal control architecture. The number of robot classes used for particular task, as well as the specification of functions for each class of robots is usually predefined and are not considered in scope of optimization. However in most cases such assumption is not verified by any calculations and alternative configurations of multi-robot system are not reviewed and evaluated. As a result, application of multi-robot system is impaired and may be economically ineffective. We propose a formal approach, based on decomposition of functional requirements, which can be used to determine the optimal configuration of multi-robot system for particular problem. The analysis of complexity of this problem is presented in this paper.