AN OPEN ARCHITECTURE AND MIDDLEWARE FOR COLLECTIVE ROBOT TEAMS

Abstract

In this paper we propose an open multi-robot architecture that dramatically reduces the time to deployment and increases the utility value to the mainstream non-technical user. We describe a multi-robot behavior-based coordination architecture and argue its suitability in the context of general-purpose robot teams operating in dynamic and unpredictable environments. We then formalize and describe a command fusion module for the coordination of high-level behaviors of the system. The command fusion module is interfaced to our middle-ware/compiler that generates behavior selection tips from a user specified abstract description of a scenario. Finally, we utilize an example search and rescue scenario to illustrate the overall process and give preliminary results of the experiments performed on actual robots.