Complexity Analysis and Approximate Solutions for Two Multiple-robot Localization Problems

We consider the localization problem for a system of mobile robots using inexpensive range sensors. Among many issues for multi-robot systems, two problems are identified and formally defined. The first problem is sensing ranges from all robots as quickly as possible while avoiding sensor cross-talk, and the second problem is to localize a multi-robot system using a minimal number of range sensings. We show that both these problems are NP-complete, and we propose an approximate method for the multi-robot localization problem that takes advantage of the robots pose uncertainty information. Simulation results show the effectiveness of our method for localizing multiple robots.

Authors

• Jinsuck Kim
• Nancy M. Amato

Keywords

• Robot kinematics
• Robot sensing systems
• Mobile robots
• Uncertainty
• Navigation
• Surveillance
• Scheduling
• Computer science
• Mobile computing
• Sensor systems
• Local Problems
• Multiple Robots
• Crosstalk
• Mobile Robot
• Range Of Sensors
• Gaussian Noise
• Undirected
• Size Of Region
• Decision Problem
• Tree Height
• Position Uncertainty
• Task Scheduling
• Critical Path
• Job Scheduling
• Precedence Constraints
• NP-complete Problem
• Uncertainty Region
• Inexpensive System