Sensors (Jun 2023)

The Energy Efficiency Multi-Robot System and Disinfection Service Robot Development in Large-Scale Complex Environment

  • Chin-Sheng Chen,
  • Feng-Chieh Lin,
  • Chia-Jen Lin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/s23125724
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 23, no. 12
p. 5724

Abstract

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In recent years, multi-robot control systems and service robots equipped with graphical computing have been introduced in various application scenarios. However, the long-term operation of VSLAM calculation leads to reduced energy efficiency of the robot, and accidental localization failure still persists in large-scale fields with dynamic crowds and obstacles. This study proposes an EnergyWise multi-robot system based on ROS that actively determines the activation of VSLAM using real-time fused localization poses by an innovative energy-saving selector algorithm. The service robot is equipped with multiple sensors and utilizes the novel 2-level EKF method and incorporates the UWB global localization mechanism to adapt to complex environments. During the COVID-19 pandemic, three disinfection service robots were deployed to disinfect a large, open, and complex experimental site for 10 days. The results demonstrated that the proposed EnergyWise multi-robot control system successfully achieved a 54% reduction in computing energy consumption during long-term operations while maintaining a localization accuracy of 3 cm.

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