Occupancy Grid Mapping via Resource-Constrained Robotic Swarms: A Collaborative Exploration Strategy
This paper addresses the problem of building an occupancy grid map of an unknown environment using a swarm comprising resource-constrained robots, i.e., robots with limited exteroceptive and inter-robot sensing capabilities. Past approaches have, commonly, used random-motion models to disperse the s...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-05-01
|
| Series: | Robotics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/12/3/70 |
| _version_ | 1827735756740755456 |
|---|---|
| author | Andrew Rogers Kasra Eshaghi Goldie Nejat Beno Benhabib |
| author_facet | Andrew Rogers Kasra Eshaghi Goldie Nejat Beno Benhabib |
| author_sort | Andrew Rogers |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper addresses the problem of building an occupancy grid map of an unknown environment using a swarm comprising resource-constrained robots, i.e., robots with limited exteroceptive and inter-robot sensing capabilities. Past approaches have, commonly, used random-motion models to disperse the swarm and explore the environment randomly, which do not necessarily consider prior information already contained in the map. Herein, we present a collaborative, effective exploration strategy that directs the swarm toward ‘promising’ frontiers by dividing the swarm into two teams: landmark robots and mapper robots, respectively. The former direct the latter, toward promising frontiers, to collect proximity measurements to be incorporated into the map. The positions of the landmark robots are optimized to maximize new information added to the map while also adhering to connectivity constraints. The proposed strategy is novel as it decouples the problem of directing the resource-constrained swarm from the problem of mapping to build an occupancy grid map. The performance of the proposed strategy was validated through extensive simulated experiments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:58:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a7317659dceb4f32907d0584ad842356 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2218-6581 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:58:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Robotics |
| spelling | doaj.art-a7317659dceb4f32907d0584ad8423562023-11-18T12:28:45ZengMDPI AGRobotics2218-65812023-05-011237010.3390/robotics12030070Occupancy Grid Mapping via Resource-Constrained Robotic Swarms: A Collaborative Exploration StrategyAndrew Rogers0Kasra Eshaghi1Goldie Nejat2Beno Benhabib3Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, CanadaDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, CanadaDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, CanadaDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, CanadaThis paper addresses the problem of building an occupancy grid map of an unknown environment using a swarm comprising resource-constrained robots, i.e., robots with limited exteroceptive and inter-robot sensing capabilities. Past approaches have, commonly, used random-motion models to disperse the swarm and explore the environment randomly, which do not necessarily consider prior information already contained in the map. Herein, we present a collaborative, effective exploration strategy that directs the swarm toward ‘promising’ frontiers by dividing the swarm into two teams: landmark robots and mapper robots, respectively. The former direct the latter, toward promising frontiers, to collect proximity measurements to be incorporated into the map. The positions of the landmark robots are optimized to maximize new information added to the map while also adhering to connectivity constraints. The proposed strategy is novel as it decouples the problem of directing the resource-constrained swarm from the problem of mapping to build an occupancy grid map. The performance of the proposed strategy was validated through extensive simulated experiments.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/12/3/70swarm roboticsmotion controlexplorationswarm mappingoccupancy grid map |
| spellingShingle | Andrew Rogers Kasra Eshaghi Goldie Nejat Beno Benhabib Occupancy Grid Mapping via Resource-Constrained Robotic Swarms: A Collaborative Exploration Strategy Robotics swarm robotics motion control exploration swarm mapping occupancy grid map |
| title | Occupancy Grid Mapping via Resource-Constrained Robotic Swarms: A Collaborative Exploration Strategy |
| title_full | Occupancy Grid Mapping via Resource-Constrained Robotic Swarms: A Collaborative Exploration Strategy |
| title_fullStr | Occupancy Grid Mapping via Resource-Constrained Robotic Swarms: A Collaborative Exploration Strategy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Occupancy Grid Mapping via Resource-Constrained Robotic Swarms: A Collaborative Exploration Strategy |
| title_short | Occupancy Grid Mapping via Resource-Constrained Robotic Swarms: A Collaborative Exploration Strategy |
| title_sort | occupancy grid mapping via resource constrained robotic swarms a collaborative exploration strategy |
| topic | swarm robotics motion control exploration swarm mapping occupancy grid map |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/12/3/70 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andrewrogers occupancygridmappingviaresourceconstrainedroboticswarmsacollaborativeexplorationstrategy AT kasraeshaghi occupancygridmappingviaresourceconstrainedroboticswarmsacollaborativeexplorationstrategy AT goldienejat occupancygridmappingviaresourceconstrainedroboticswarmsacollaborativeexplorationstrategy AT benobenhabib occupancygridmappingviaresourceconstrainedroboticswarmsacollaborativeexplorationstrategy |