Adaptive mobile charging stations for multi-robot systems

• Published in: 2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems pp. 1363 - 1368
• Main Authors: Couture-Beil, A., Vaughan, R.T.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.10.2009
• Subjects: Energy capture; Intelligent robots; Interference; Mobile robots; Multirobot systems; Prototypes; Runtime; System performance; Transportation; USA Councils
• ISBN: 9781424438037; 1424438039
• ISSN: 2153-0858
• DOI: 10.1109/IROS.2009.5354816

We consider systems of mobile robots that execute a transportation task and periodically recharge from a docking station. The location of the docking station has a considerable effect on task performance. In nonstationary tasks the optimal dock location may vary over the length of the task. In multiple-robot systems, spatial interference between charging and working robots can make it difficult to find an optimal dock location, even in static tasks. We propose a new approach whereby the dock is itself an autonomous robot that attempts to incrementally improve its location. We show simulation results from a simple local controller that adapts to nonstationary tasks and spatial interference, and thus improves overall task performance compared to a static dock.