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This paper describes a multi-robot system designed to use Bluetooth wireless communication to solve the "Honeybee" task. The Honeybee task is a simple search and navigation
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... robots used in this project consisted of two modified Brainstem Palm Pilot Robot Kits (PPRK) from Acroname Robotics. The Brainstem PPRK is a small robotic platform that is characterized by holonomic motion and an easily modifiable chassis (see Figure 1). They are designed to be run by the Acroname Brainstem, a microprocessor with a 40 MHz RISC processor, 1 MBit Inter Integrated Circuit Bus (IIC) port, 5 digital input/outputs, and 4 high resolution servo outputs. ...
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Citations
... Recently, wireless communication technology allows the development of several communicating mobile robotic platforms, leading to the development of a multitude of applications in the field of cooperation and communication between groups of mobile robots. Among these technologies we find the Wi-Fi [3], Infra-Red (IrDA) [4] [10], ZigBee [5] and Bluetooth [6] [8] [3]. Indeed, Cooperation means that the robots should communicate to exchange information and coordinate their actions in order to achieve a joint overall mission. ...
... Communication is done after starting the search procedure of homologous and exchange code, which makes this technology in a higher level of security than other wireless communication protocols. In order to implement a wireless communication system based on Bluetooth, each robot must have the necessary tools of perception in its dynamic environment to move between two points of appointments, and establish a point to point connection to exchange necessary information [6]. This paper presents one of the main problems of the cooperation in a multi-robots system which is the wireless communication in full-duplex using Bluetooth technology. ...
... Barnhard et al. [6] proposed the conception of a multi-robot system using Bluetooth communication to solve the tasks made by bees. Bee's task is a simple navigation research problem that requires a robot guide to lead another blind robot to a specific target in the environment. ...
This paper presents the implementation of a communication system Bluetooth for synchronous communication between autonomous robots moving between predefined appointments points. Every robot executes individual tasks such as navigation and obstacle avoidance. Also, it executes global tasks such as synchronization for a pair of robots appointments in predetermined points and a synchronous communication establishment. A full-duplex communication algorithm between two Lego Mindstorms robots, in a configuration Master - Slave, was developed and implemented using the Java language and Lejos technology. To establish a synchronous communication between master robot and slave robot into a bounded time, we modeled the system using P-temporal Petri nets can represent parallel systems under time constraints to calculate the waiting time maximum of each robot on his appointment point.
... They use an external motion capture system connected to a central base station to compute and control each team member's position. Other researchers have proposed decentralized solutions based on Bluetooth to allow simultaneous communication between pairs of robots (Barnhard et al. 2004; McClain et al. 2004). In these studies, robot localization is determined using landmarks distributed in the environment and thus require a priori knowledge of the environment. ...
Spatially targeted communication (STC) allows a message sender to choose message recipients based on their location in space. Currently, STC in multirobot systems is limited to centralized systems. In this paper, we propose a novel communication protocol that enables STC in decentralized multirobot systems. The proposed protocol dispenses with the many aspects that underpin previous approaches, including external tracking infrastructure, a priori knowledge, global information, dedicated communication devices or unique robot IDs. We show how off-the-shelf hardware components such as cameras and LEDs can be used to establish ad-hoc STC links between robots. We present a Markov chain model for each of the two constituent parts of our proposed protocol and we show, using both model-based analysis and experimentation, that the proposed protocol is highly scalable. We also present the results of extensive experiments carried out on an autonomous, heterogeneous multirobot system composed of one aerial robot and numerous ground-based robots. Finally, two real world application scenarios are presented in which we show how spatial coordination can be achieved in a decentralized multirobot system through STC.
... Each MechIy means of sensory systems can understand other robot's state, target, action and changing information of the current environment by establishing a dedicated communication [2] [3]. This paper addresses one of the main concerns that arise in a particular class of multi robot system. ...
... Communication between mobile robots is a significant task which allows multiple robots to accomplish a goal. Various communication methods were used such as wireless network (Wi-Fi) [4], Infra-Red (IrDA) [2][5] and Bluetooth [3][8] [9] for multi-robot to communicate in order to perform a task. Each method has own advantages and drawback. ...
... An interesting yet informatious research by Barnhard et al. conducted a study on multi-robot system to solve the "Honeybee" task by means of using Bluetooth communication [3]. The goal of their study was to create a robust communication for a behaviour-based multi-robot system. ...
Task assignments to team of homogenous autonomous robots are in research trends in robotic field. Autonomous homogeneous multi-robot is known to have similar architecture in terms of structure and identical control system as well as their tasking. At present, most research of multi-robot mainly focuses on motion control layer. Nevertheless, a successful control and coordination of a group of robot rely on effective inter-robot communication. In this paper, in depth investigation of the Bluetooth between two homogenous mobile robots, namely MechA and MechI, is presented. MechA is pre-programmed with dedicated movement, and upon completion the data acquired is sent to MechI for coordination. A distance-based measurement was made for comparison, giving a reliable data for crisp observation. Coordination of multi-robots can be done by controlling the movement of each mobile robot through wireless communication between mobile robots with error distance of 0.0322 ± 0.0147 m.
... The system was only tested with four robots and it remains unclear how echo effects would affect the performance if the number of robots in the system is increased. Some multirobot systems have exploited short-range communication radio technologies [2] [8]. However, these technologies are based on individual robots establishing serial communication links with each other and and thus only allow for simultaneous communication between pairs of robots. ...
... The system was only tested with four robots and it remains unclear how echo effects would affect the performance if the number of robots in the system is increased. Some multirobot systems have exploited short-range communication radio technologies [2, 8] . However, these technologies are based on individual robots establishing serial communication links with each other and and thus only allow for simultaneous communication between pairs of robots. ...
We consider a heterogeneous swarm consisting of aerial and wheeled robots. We present a system that enables spatially targeted communication. Our system enables aerial robots to establish dedicated communication links with individual wheeled robots or with selected groups of wheeled robots based on their position in the environment. The system does not rely on any form of global information. We show how a spatially targeted one-to-one communication link can be established using a simple LED and camera based com-munication modality. We provide a probabilistic model of our approach to derive an upper bound on the average time required for establishing communication. In simulation, we show that our approach scales well. Furthermore, we show how our approach can be extended to establish a spatially targeted one-to-many communication link between an aerial robot and a specific number of co-located wheeled robots. The heterogeneous swarm robotic hardware is currently un-der development. We therefore demonstrate the proposed approach on an existing multirobot system consisting of only wheeled robots by letting one of the wheeled robots assume the role of an aerial robot.
... MPEG) is also undesirable as dropouts in communication result in many subsequent garbled frames. While tethered solutions exist, wireless communication provides greater flexibility in mobility [14] and opens up the possibility of large-scale robot networks performing wide-area search and rescue missions. Of the wireless technologies discussed above, we think Bluetooth offers the most potential but requires a new routing protocol to control dataflow through large, ad-hoc networks in a scatternet configuration. ...
Small-size robots provide access and maneuverability in the tight confines of highly rubbled and uncertain environments such
as those encountered in Urban Search and Rescue (USAR). Small size also provides easy portability and deployability and the
potential for redundancy through multi-robot teaming. Unfortunately, small size does not diminish the data demands of these
applications, such as high-resolution imagery and other forms of high bandwidth data. Furthermore, achieving redundancy in
tight environments requires wireless operation to avoid the entanglement of tethers, but wireless communication links have
proven unreliable in such environments. The net effect of this is a set of robust networking requirements that include high
bandwidth, low latency, and low power with multi-hop routing in a sparse and highly volatile network configuration, which
has been collectively difficult to achieve. Our metric for benchmarking these requirements is a stream of uncompressed 320
× 240, 24-bit color images updated at 1 frame per second (roughly 1.8 Mbps - image compression is not the focus of this research
as it only serves to increase the possible resolution or frame rate). No existing ad hoc wireless sensor network approaches
have been able to achieve these requirements. Wi-Fi requires high power and size and does not have the latency, while Zig-bee
does not have the bandwidth. Instead, this work focuses on augmenting the Bluetooth protocol, which is master/slave based,
with a hybrid, multi-hop routing protocol. Bluetooth has the desired low power and high bandwidth characteristics, but lacks
multi-hop routing and rapid recovery. In this paper, a hybrid routing protocol for ad hoc multi-robot networking is described
that features: (1) high-bandwidth, (2) low power, and (3) low latency of data traffic for sparse, highly volatile networks—exactly
what is required for large teams of highly distributed, small-scale robots. Furthermore, this paper compares simulations and
robot implementations of different routing protocols over Bluetooth sensor networks and demonstrates the viability of our
protocol as a wireless network solution for multi-robot teams characterized by high mobility in difficult RF environments.
To the best of our knowledge, the work presented in this paper is the first attempt at comparison of different routing protocols
for real robots with physical experiments over Bluetooth sensor networks.
... [4] and [5] offer performance analysis of the connection setup process, although these concentrate on latency issues which have since been improved upon in more recent revisions of the standard. [6] offers some statements on suitability for autonomous mobile robots, whilst [7] describes Bluetooth application for inter-robot communications to accomplish a specific task. None of these works however, provide any detail towards mechanisms for robot discovery, connection setup, or topology organisation. ...
The Bluetooth radio system is an ideal communications tool for lightweight autonomous mobile robots but little research interest has been targeted at this application. Along with facilitating ad hoc communications, other features of Bluetooth may be exploited for use in the mobile robotics domain. We consider the likely scenario where a mobile robot becomes inoperably stuck and unable to free itself. The robot should be able to warn other robots about its situation in order to prevent further losses from the same potential failure. In this paper we demonstrate how the discovery phase of Bluetooth connection setup can provide simple proximity data without requiring an explicit connection to be established. Our lightweight proximity sensing mechanism, tightly coupled to a behavior based control architecture provides a cheap but effective method for kin recognition. Using the latency of the discovery process, we show various proximities can be attained whilst minimising power usage.
... This paper presents a multi-robot system designed to use short range Bluetooth communication to solve a team-based search and destroy task. This project represents an extension to an earlier project described in [1] that used Bluetooth communication to solve a simple multi-robot search and communication task. The primary goals of this extended project include the development of a cheap and easily produced platform with Bluetooth capabilities, development of a more robust Bluetooth communication scheme, and the development of behavioral models that allow efficient team-based search and destroy tactics in a military-like scenario. ...
... If both localization systems are inaccurate, even slightly, the error will compound and the accuracy and efficiency of the system will suffer tremendously. Barnhard et al. [1] described a simplified version of landmark-based navigation similar to the one presented by Uther et al. [6], which outlined the use of vision processing to find a robot's location and orientation by noting the location of various markers surrounding the task area. In a similar fashion, the present system uses landmark cues to determine location as well. ...
... Because of the inherent complexity of the system, it was decided that development should be divided into two phases. The first phase consisted of two robots, Odin and Hodur 1 , which were 1 The names Odin and Hodur come from Nordic mythology. Odin is named after the most prominent Norse deity and Hodur after the Norse god of winter. ...
This paper presents a distributed multi-robot system designed to solve a team-based search and destroy task. The project was divided into two phases. The initial phase was used to demonstrate the application of Bluetooth communication for coordinated robotic search. The second (current) phase of the project attempts to integrate these early developments. This integration allows two seeker robots to locate and coordinate an attack on a target (enemy).The goal of the first phase was to develop a robot communication strategy using Bluetooth for the Honeybee task. The goal of the second phase was to take the communication strategy and use it in the team-based search and destroy task. A secondary goal in the current phase was to convert a model tank into a robust autonomous vehicle. We present the details of the phases, the progress made towards achieving the goals, and the directions we plan to take after the current phase is complete.
... This compass can be used to provide localization by using a process that takes two sonar distance measurements at two cardinal directions separated by 90 degrees. The environment that the robots operated in had very few obstacles, and relied on the distance measurements to provide an X and Y position within the environment (Figure 3.5) [10]. beneficial to develop a localization procedure that is not affected by obstacles. ...
The utilization of multiple robots to map an unknown environment is a challenging problem within Artificial Intelligence. This thesis first presents previous efforts to develop robotic platforms that have demonstrated incremental progress in coordination for mapping and target acquisition tasks. Next, we present a rewards based method that could increase the coordination ability of multiple robots in a distributed mapping task. The method that is presented is a reinforcement based emergent behavior approach that rewards individual robots for performing desired tasks. It is expected that the use of a reward and taxation system will result in individual robots effectively coordinating their efforts to complete a distributed mapping task.
In this chapter, the design of a completely decentralized and distributed multi-robot localization algorithm is presented. The issue is approached using an Interlaced Extended Kalman Filter (IEKF) algorithm. The proposed solution allows the dynamic correction of the position computed by any single robot through information shared during the random rendezvous of robots. The agents are supposed to carry short-range antennas to enable data communication when they have a “visual” contact. The information exchange is limited to the pose variables and the associated covariance matrix. The algorithm combines the robustness of a full-state EKF with the effortlessness of its interlaced implementation. The proposed unsupervised method provides great flexibility by using exteroceptive sensors, even if it does not guarantee the same position estimate accuracy for each agent. However, it can be effective in case of connectivity loss among team robots. Moreover, it does not need synchronization between agents.
Localization for mobile platforms, in indoor scenarios, represents a cornerstone achievement to effective develop service and field robots able to safely cooperate. This paper proposes a methodology to achieve such a result by applying a completely decentralized and distributed algorithm. The key idea of the solution developed is to enable a dynamic correction of the position estimate, computed by robots, through information, shared during random rendezvous. This objective is reached using a specific extension of the Extended Kalman Filter, called Interlaced Extended Kalman Filter, which allows exchanging the estimation performed by any single robot together with the corresponding uncertainties. The proposed unsupervised method provides a large flexibility: it facilitates the handling of heterogeneous proprioceptive and exteroceptive sensors, that can be merged taking into account both their accuracy and the system model one. The solution is particularly interesting for rescue scenario, since it is able to cope with irregular communication signals and loss of connectivity among robots team without requiring any synchronization.
