An Arrovian view on the multi-robot task allocation problem

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the Multi-Robot Task Allocation (MRTA) problem from the perspective of Social Choice Theory. More specifically taking into account the conditions of Arrow's Impossibility Theorem in a robot collective preference aggregation. The scalar utility comparison between two robots becomes impractical with an inexact estimate. As argued by Arrow, the cardinal utility comparison can be replaced by an ordinal comparison. The work also examines two different MRTA problems from this Arrovian view, while establishing Multi-Robot Social Choice and Multi-Robot Social Welfare functions.