Network-based subsumption architecture for multiple mobile robots system

In this paper, a unique multiple mobile robots system is proposed to enable students or mechanical engineers to efficiently learn a subsumption architecture for swarm intelligence. The subsumption architecture is known as one of the behaviour-based artificial intelligences. Each of multiple mobile robots has three wheels driven by DC motors and six PSD (Position Sensitive Detector) sensors. A network-based subsumption architecture is considered to realize a schooling behaviour by using only information from the PSD sensors. Further, a server supervisory control is introduced for poor hardware platforms with limitations of software development, i.e., the mobile robots that can only behave based on the most simply subdivided reaction behaviours, i.e., reflex actions, generated from agents. Experimental results show interesting behaviour among the multiple mobile robots, such as following, avoidance and schooling.

I. Introduction

Up to now, many multiple mobile robots systems have been developed according to various objectives. First of all, let’ s survey several valid papers mainly with some actual experimental results in chronological order. Parsons and Canny proposed an algorithm for planning the motions of several mobile robots which share the same workspace containing polygonal obstacles [1]. Each robot has an ability of independent translational motion in two dimensions. The algorithm computes a path for each robot which avoids all obstacles in the workspace as well as the other robots. Barman et al. developed an extensible facility for multiple mobile robots [2]. The system consists of nine radio-controlled mobile robots, two CCD color video cameras, a video transmitter and tuner, radio controllers, an image processing hardware and so on. Software for tracking control is described. Kube and Zhang examined the problem of controlling multiple behaviour-based autonomous robots [3], [4]. Based on observations made from the study of social insects, they proposed five simple mechanisms used to invoke group behaviour in simple sensor-based mobile robots. They also constructed a system of five homogeneous sensor-based mobile robots with capability of achieving simple collective task. Noreils described an architecture for cooperative and autonomous mobile robots [5]. The cooperation is composed of two phases. One is the collaboration where a task is decomposed into subtasks. The other is the coordination where robots actually coordinate their activities to fulfill the initial task using the notion of coordinated protocols. This architecture showed benefits of modularity, robustness and programmability.