Predictive path coordination in multi-robot systems
AssigneeUniversity of South Florida
InventorsZixiang Nie, Kwang-Cheng Chen
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Abstract
A system and methods for operating a multi-robot system (MRS) are disclosed. An example method can include receiving at least one transportation task; determining an optimal path for executing the at least one transportation task based at least in part on: (i) one or more transportation task parameters, (ii) a shared global critic function accessible to the first robot and the at least one additional robot, and (iii) a local critic function unique to the first robot; and executing the at least one transportation task in accordance with the determined optimal path.
Claims20
A multi-robot system comprising:
- an edge server;
- and
- a plurality of robots in electronic communication with one another and the edge server, each robot being configured to:
- receive at least one transportation task from the edge server;
- determine an optimal path for executing the at least one transportation task based at least in part on:
- (i) one or more transportation task parameters, (ii) a shared global critic function accessible to the plurality of robots, and (iii) a local critic function unique to the respective robot, and
- execute the at least one transportation task in accordance with the determined optimal path, wherein each of the plurality of robots is configured to initiate a token-passing based resolution to resolve potential collisions with one another in real-time.
A method of operating a first robot in a multi-robot system, wherein the first robot and at least one additional robot of the multi-robot system are in electronic communication with one another, the method comprising:
- receiving, by the first robot, at least one transportation task;
- determining, by the first robot, an optimal path for executing the at least one transportation task based at least in part on:
- (i) one or more transportation task parameters, (ii) a shared global critic function accessible to the first robot and the at least one additional robot, and (iii) a local critic function unique to the first robot;
- and
- executing, by the first robot, the at least one transportation task in accordance with the determined optimal path.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a memory having instructions stored thereon to cause a processor to:
- receive at least one transportation task;
- determine an optimal path for executing the at least one transportation task via at least one robot based at least in part, on:
- (i) one or more transportation task parameters, (ii) a shared global critic function accessible to a plurality of robots, and (iii) a local critic function unique to each of the plurality of robots, and
- cause execution of the transportation task in accordance with the determined optimal path, wherein at least one robot is configured to initiate a token-passing based resolution to resolve potential collisions with at least another robot in real-time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.