Dynamic mission planning for multiple mobile robots

Planning for multiple mobile robots in dynamic environments involves determining the optimal path each robot should follow to accomplish the goals of the mission, given the current knowledge available about the world. As knowledge increases or improves, the planning system should dynamically reassign robots to goals in order to continually minimize the time to complete the mission. In this paper, an example problem in this domain is explored and performance results of such a dynamic planning system are presented. The system was able to dynamically optimize the motion of 3 robots toward 6 goals in real time, improving the average overall mission performance compared to a static planner by 25%. A preliminary design for a practical solution to a wider class of problems is also discussed.

Authors

• Barry Brumitt
• Anthony Stentz

Keywords

• Mobile robots
• Robotics and automation
• Motion planning
• Artificial intelligence
• Safety
• Process planning
• Control systems
• Costs
• Path planning
• Real time systems
• Mobile Robot
• Multiple Robots
• Mission Planning
• Dynamic Environment
• Planning System
• Optimal Path
• Problem Domain
• Goals In Order
• Dynamic Planning
• Navigation
• Field Of View
• Autonomic System
• Workspace
• Perceptual System
• Prototype System
• Obstacle Avoidance
• World Knowledge
• Planning Algorithm
• Single Robot
• Single Goal
• Local Series