Distributed Algorithms for Controlling Multiple Mobile Robots

Abstract

We discuss a method for controlling a group of mobile robots in a distributed manner. The method is fully distributed in the sense that each robot plans its motion individually based upon a given goal of the group and the observed positions of other robots. We illustrate the method by showing how a large number of robots can form an approximation of a circle, a simple polygon or a line segment in the plane. We also show how the robots can distribute themselves nearly uniformly within a circle or a convex polygon in the plane. Finally, we show how the robots can be divided into two or more groups. It turns out that in many cases most robots execute an identical, simple algorithm. The performance of the method is demonstrated by simulation