Collective transport of robots: Coherent, minimalist multi-robot leader-following

Megha Gupta, Jnaneshwar Das, Marcos A.M. Vieira, Hordur Heidarsson, Harshvardhan Vathsangam, Gaurav S. Sukhatme

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

We study the collective transport of robots (CTR) problem. A large number of commodity mobile robots are to be moved from one location to another by a single operator. Joysticking each one or carrying them physically is impractical. None of the robots are particularly sophisticated in their ability to plan or reason. Prior work on flocking and formation control has addressed the transport of a robot group that maintains its integrity by explicitly controlling coherence. We show how flocking emerges as a consequence of each robot contending for space near the human operator. A coherent flock can be made to follow a leader in this manner thereby solving the CTR problem. We also present the design of a hand-worn IMU-based gesture interface which allows the human operator to issue simple commands to the group. A preliminary experimental evaluation of the system shows robust CTR with different leader behaviors.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2009
Pages5834-5840
Number of pages7
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 11 2009
Externally publishedYes
Event2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2009 - St. Louis, MO, United States
Duration: Oct 11 2009Oct 15 2009

Publication series

Name2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2009

Other

Other2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2009
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySt. Louis, MO
Period10/11/0910/15/09

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Control and Systems Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Collective transport of robots: Coherent, minimalist multi-robot leader-following'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this