Frontiers in Robotics and AI (Jul 2021)

Information Distribution in Multi-Robot Systems: Generic, Utility-Aware Optimization Middleware

  • Michał Barciś,
  • Agata Barciś,
  • Nikolaos Tsiogkas,
  • Nikolaos Tsiogkas,
  • Hermann Hellwagner

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2021.685105
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8

Abstract

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This work addresses the problem of what information is worth sending in a multi-robot system under generic constraints, e.g., limited throughput or energy. Our decision method is based on Monte Carlo Tree Search. It is designed as a transparent middleware that can be integrated into existing systems to optimize communication among robots. Furthermore, we introduce techniques to reduce the decision space of this problem to further improve the performance. We evaluate our approach using a simulation study and demonstrate its feasibility in a real-world environment by realizing a proof of concept in ROS 2 on mobile robots.

Keywords