Ensemble Programming for Multipotent Systems

Abstract

The orchestration and controlling of groups of robots, i.e., programming ensembles, is a complicated task to do. Deciding and defining what the ensemble needs to do in which order often requires in-depth problem domain specific knowledge. Further, an ensemble programmer needs to put much effort into the design, implementation, and evaluation of distributed algorithms to coordinate multi-robot executions. Most commonly, expertise for the problem domain and programming knowledge is not united in the same person. To tackle this, we propose Maple, an approach for a Multi-Agent Programming Language for Ensembles. Using Maple simplifies an ensemble programmer's typical work-flow by providing generalized solutions for solving technical tasks in ensemble programming. Maple is a graphical ensemble programming language based on the formalism of hierarchical task networks that enables the online generation of ensemble programs. Maple also enables non-technical domain experts to generate ensemble programs for specific use-cases.