Class #10: Coordination of Multiple Robots
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Multi-robot spot welding in an automotive body shop (left). Coordination of several small rovers (right, from Chris Clark).

• Topics
  - Notion of configuration x time space
  - Mapping of moving obstacles in configuration x time space
  - Centralized vs. decoupled planning
  - Decoupled planning techniques: Velocity tuning, coordination diagram, prioritized planning
• Required Readings:
• Velocity tuning and coordination diagram:
  P.A. O'Donnell and T. Lozano-Perez. Deadlock-Free and Collision-Free Coordination of Two Robot Manipulators. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pages 484-489, 1989. [Hardcopy will be given in class]
• Using PRM to compare of centralized and decoupled planning:
  G. Sánchez, J.C. Latombe. Using a PRM Planner to Compare Centralized and Decoupled Planning for Multi-Robot Systems. Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, 2002. [pdf]
• Other Readings:
• Prioritized planning:
  M. Erdmann and T. Lozano-Perez. On multiple moving objects. Algorithmica, 2(4):477—521, 1987. [ps]
• Powerpoint slides:

o Introduction

o Paper 1

o Paper 2