Voronoi Coverage Based on Improved Artificial Potential Field

Abstract

This paper proposes a multi-robot formation coverage method by combining the improved Artificial Potential Field (APF) with the Centroidal Voronoi Tessellation (CVT). Firstly, we added the distance factor to weaken the infinite repulsive force, so that the robots can reach the target near the obstacle. Secondly, we set the judgment condition of the local optimal, by exploring multiple directions of local optimal area, robots will get the suitable direction to leave. Finally, we propose the Centroidal Repulsion Field (CRF) to prevent the centroids generate inside the obstacle, which will improve the efficiency of obstacle avoidance during multi-robot coverage. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulation in MATLAB.