Allocating sensor resources to multiple behaviors

This paper presents an algorithm for allocating sensing resources for an autonomous mobile robot with logically redundant sensing capabilities. The algorithm creates a partial plan based on the set of requests by behaviors. If two or more behaviors place conflicting requests, a variant of the MIN-CONFLICT algorithm is used to find a replacement logical sensor. Unlike traditional MIN-CONFLICT, our variant maximizes each behavior's preference for a particular sensor ("happiness"). Simulations compared MIN-CONFLICT with Happiness to other methods (random and greedy assignment) for 10 sequences of 20 random requests for 8 sensors from up to 11 concurrent behaviors. Results showed that it is able to generate more schedules (on the order of 71% to 155% more) and that a further variant could maximize happiness better (7% to 30%).