Multi-robot collaboration for robust exploration

  • Authors:

  • Ioannis Rekleitis;Gregory Dudek;Evangelos Milios

  • Affiliations:

  • Centre for Intelligent Machines, McGill University, 3480 University St., Montreal, Québec, Canada H3A 2A7 E-mail: yiannis@cim.mcgill.ca;Centre for Intelligent Machines, McGill University, 3480 University St., Montreal, Québec, Canada H3A 2A7 E-mail: dudek@cim.mcgill.ca;Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University, 6050 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 1W5 E-mail: eem@cs.dal.ca

  • Venue:
  • Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence
  • Year:
  • 2001

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Abstract

This paper presents a new sensing modality for multirobot exploration. The approach is based on using a pair of robots that observe each other, and act in concert to reduce odometry errors. We assume the robots can both directly sense nearby obstacles and see each other. The proposed approach improves the quality of the map by reducing the inaccuracies that occur over time from dead reckoning errors. Furthermore, by exploiting the ability of the robots to see each other, we can detect opaque obstacles in the environment independently of their surface reflectance properties. Two different algorithms, based on the size of the environment, are introduced, with a complexity analysis, and experimental results in simulation and with real robots.