Load balancing for multi-robot construction

Abstract

In distributed multi-robot construction it is important to set the relative rates at which different construction sites receive raw building materials. Otherwise, subtasks finish at different times introducing unnecessary delays. We present a feedback algorithm to achieve robust load balancing in routing building materials for stochastic, distributed, multi-robot construction systems. We express global behavior in terms of local reactive behavior via Guarded Command Programming with Rates and prove correctness of the load-balancing controller for a wide range of conditions. We adapt a proof from earlier work on controlling Stochastic Chemical Kinetic systems and illustrate the algorithm on the Factory-Floor robotic testbed [1].