A Co-Simulation Framework for Communication and Control in Autonomous Multi-Robot Systems

Multi-Robot Systems (MRS) are transforming diverse domains like logistics, cargo management, and agriculture. However, ensuring that the behavior is correct under various network conditions within such complex environments is challenging, and meeting the desired automation goals is difficult. We propose the CORNET 2.0 co-simulation framework to jointly and accurately simulate multi-agent robotic systems within physical environments and the communication network models within such environments. Our modular framework allows diverse robot and network models to seamlessly integrate to simulate the robot's autonomy, physical space, and network features, such as latency, throughput, and loss intrinsic to the network topology and communication technology. A key novelty of CORNET 2.0 is its accurate synchronizing of mobility and time, which ensures that the physical location of a robot at a point in time, and the network properties and packets that flow from that location, are aligned. This is vital to model and validate MRS coordination algorithms that rely on network interactions. We provide a detailed evaluation of CORNET 2.0 in modeling real-world MRS use cases, such as leader-follower and warehouse environments, that help highlights the benefits.