Auction-based Task Allocation Mechanisms for Managing Fruit Harvesting Tasks

Abstract

Multi-robot task allocation mechanisms are de- signed to distribute a set of activities fairly amongst a set of robots. Frequently, this can be framed as a multi-criteria optimisation problem, for example minimising cost while max- imising rewards. In soft fruit farms, tasks, such as picking ripe fruit at harvest time, are assigned to human labourers. The work presented here explores the application of multi-robot task allocation mechanisms to the complex problem of managing a heterogeneous workforce to undertake activities associated with harvesting soft fruit.