Towards Robust on-line Multi-robot Coverage

Area coverage is an important task for mobile robots, with many real-world applications. In many cases, the coverage has to be completed without the use of a map or any a priori knowledge about the area, a process referred-to as on-line coverage. Previous investigations of multi-robot on-line coverage focused on the improved efficiency gained from the use of multiple robots, but did not formally addressed the potential for greater robustness. We present a novel multi-robot on-line coverage algorithm, based on approximate cell decomposition. We analytically show that the algorithm is complete and robust, in that as long as a single robot is able to move, the coverage would be completed. We analyze the assumptions underlying the algorithm requirements and present a number of techniques for executing it in real robots. We show empirical coverage-time results of running the algorithm in two different environments and several group sizes

Authors

• Noam Hazon
• Fabrizio Mieli
• Gal A. Kaminka

Keywords

• Robustness
• Robot kinematics
• Robot sensing systems
• Mobile robots
• Algorithm design and analysis
• Computer science
• Application software
• Shape
• Actuators
• Cleaning
• Robust Coverage
• Multi-robot Coverage
• Real-world Applications
• Real Robot
• Online Algorithm
• Multiple Robots
• Single Robot
• Collision
• Practice Effects
• Work In This Area
• Free Space
• Neighboring Cells
• Indoor Environments
• Real-world Situations
• Free Cells
• Recursive Algorithm
• Catastrophic Failure
• Global Coordinate System
• Spanning Tree
• Edge Connectivity
• Tree Edges
• Physical Robot
• Distributed Fashion
• Face Of Failure