Robot Heterogeneity Analysis Based on Extenics

This paper presents a new method that robot heterogeneities are described by using an extension model based on Extenics, which is a new discipline and a new branch of artificial intelligence. Individual robot is the basic unit of a multi- robot system. The whole system's performance is determined by individual's capability. Heterogeneity determines a robot's difference in behavior and ability. Studying robot's heterogeneity is the foundation for the entire system to achieve the optimum state. This paper first analyses heterogeneous characters of robot generally, then an extension model is established to show heterogeneous characteristics. This extension model is used for task allocation which is based on contract net protocol. At the end, simulation is conducted in a multi-robot system. Simulation results validate this method.