Cooperative system and method using mobile robots for testing a cooperative search controller
AssigneeSandia Corporation
InventorsRaymond H. Byrne, John J. Harrington, Steven E. Eskridge, John E. Hurtado
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Abstract
A test system for testing a controller provides a way to use large numbers of miniature mobile robots to test a cooperative search controller in a test area, where each mobile robot has a sensor, a communication device, a processor, and a memory. A method of using a test system provides a way for testing a cooperative search controller using multiple robots sharing information and communicating over a communication network.
Claims22
A cooperative system using mobile robots for testing a source localization controller to locate a source in a test area, comprising:
- a) a source, having a detectable attribute;
- b) a plurality of mobile robots, cooperatively locating the source, each mobile robot controlled by the source localization controller, each mobile robot comprising:
- i) a sensor, mounted with the mobile robot, generating a sensor reading of the source;
- ii) a robot communication device, mounted with the mobile robot;
- iii) a robot processor, mounted with the mobile robot, interfacing to the robot communication device, and running the source localization controller;
- and
- iv) a memory, mounted with the mobile robot, accessible to the robot processor;
- and
- c) a communication network, in communication with each robot communication device, and interfacing the plurality of mobile robots.
A test system for testing a cooperative search controller using a mobile robot team to search an area for an objective, comprising:
- a) a plurality of cooperating robots, operating within the area, each cooperating robot comprising:
- i) a sensor, mounted with the mobile robot, generating a robot sensor reading on the objective;
- ii) a communication device, mounted with the mobile robot, communicating the robot sensor reading to the other cooperating robots;
- iii) a memory, mounted with the mobile robot, capable of storing a received sensor reading communicated from the other cooperating robots;
- and
- iv) a processor, mounted with the mobile robot, in communication with the sensor and the memory;
- v) wherein the processor executes the cooperative search controller, using the received sensor reading and the robot sensor reading to generate a cooperative search update;
- and
- b) a tracking device, indicating a position for each mobile robot.
A method of using a test system for testing a cooperative search controller, the test system comprising a plurality of mobile robots cooperating to locate a source in a test area, each mobile robot comprising a sensor, a robot processor, a memory, and a communication device;
- the test system comprising a tracking device and a communication network;
- each communication device interfacing with the communication network, the method comprising:
- a) for each mobile robot, generating a robot sensor reading on the source using the sensor;
- b) for each mobile robot, determining a robot location in the test area using the tracking device;
- c) for each mobile robot, communicating the robot sensor reading and the robot location to the other mobile robots using the communication device;
- d) for each mobile robot, storing a received sensor reading and a received robot location in the memory;
- e) for each mobile robot, executing the cooperative search controller on the robot processor to generate a cooperative search update using the received sensor reading, the received robot location, the robot sensor reading, and the robot location;
- f) for each robot, moving the mobile robot substantially toward the objective, according to the cooperative search update;
- and
- g) for each robot, repeating steps a) through f) until a stop criterion is met.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.