Decentralized Multi-Robot Pursuit of an Evader in Obstacle Environments

In this paper, we introduce a decentralized algorithm for pursuing an evader with identical motion capabilities in environments with obstacles. Initially, we propose the Safe Pursuit Buffered Voronoi Cell (SPBVC), which ensures the safety of robots during the pursuit, encompassing collision avoidance with obstacles, reciprocal avoidance among pursuing robots, and avoidance between the pursuers and the evader. Subsequently, based on SPBVC, distinct pursuit algorithms suitable for various robots are developed, where each pursuer continually computes the SPBVC and plans the control actions until the evader is incapacitated. Furthermore, we provide a proof of the safety assurance offered by the SPBVC during the pursuit. Ultimately, we validate the overall algorithm through simulations in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional scenarios.