An infra-red sensory system with local communication for cooperative multiple mobile robots

Distributed autonomous robotic systems which are composed of multiple robotic agents have been attracted the attention of many researchers as a new strategy for flexible and robust robotic systems. For cooperative multiple mobile robots in distributed autonomous robotic systems, recognition of the dynamic environment is required. In this paper, a new sensory system with local communication functionality is developed utilizing infra-red devices. Based on the discussion on sensing and communication for cooperative multiple mobile robots, requirements for the sensory system are derived. Then, the infra-red sensory system is designed and developed taking account of the required function. This system enables not only detection of collisions against obstacles or other robots but also local communication between robots. This system can also detect interference of plural infra-red signals. Finally the developed system as introduced, and its performance obtained as a results of experiments is shown.