Dynamic control of distributed autonomous robotic systems with underlying three-index assignments

Distributed autonomous robotic units are controlled in a manufacturing environment with obstacles where the robotic units have to be assigned to manufacturing targets in a cost effective way. Besides the dynamic control of the robotic units in space, the underlying optimization problem is the NP-hard three-index assignment problem. The suggested approach leads to a self-organized behaviour of the robotic units. The used dynamical system is based first on the selection of modes which appears in pattern formation of physical systems and second on behavioural forces, which have been successfully applied to describe self-organized crowd behaviour of pedestrians. This novel approach includes collision avoidance as well as error resistance, i.e., in systems where failures are of concern, the system covers up for sudden external changes like breakdowns of some robotic units. The capabilities are demonstrated in computer simulations.