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Sold!: auction methods for multirobot coordination


Abstract:

The key to utilizing the potential of multirobot systems is cooperation. How can we achieve cooperation in systems composed of failure-prone autonomous robots operating i...Show More

Abstract:

The key to utilizing the potential of multirobot systems is cooperation. How can we achieve cooperation in systems composed of failure-prone autonomous robots operating in noisy, dynamic environments? We present a method of dynamic task allocation for groups of such robots. We implemented and tested an auction-based task allocation system which we call MURDOCH, built upon a principled, resource centric, publish/subscribe communication model. A variant of the Contract Net Protocol, MURDOCH produces a distributed approximation to a global optimum of resource usage. We validated MURDOCH in two very different domains: a tightly coupled multirobot physical manipulation task and a loosely coupled multirobot experiment in long-term autonomy. The primary contribution of the paper is to show empirically that distributed negotiation mechanisms such as MURDOCH are viable and effective for coordinating physical multirobot systems.
Published in: IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation ( Volume: 18, Issue: 5, October 2002)
Page(s): 758 - 768
Date of Publication: 10 December 2002

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