Nowadays, robots generally have a variety of capabilities, which often form a coalition replacing human to work in dangerous environment, such as rescue, exploration, etc. In these operating conditions, the energy sup...Nowadays, robots generally have a variety of capabilities, which often form a coalition replacing human to work in dangerous environment, such as rescue, exploration, etc. In these operating conditions, the energy supply of robots usually cannot be guaranteed. If the energy resources of some robots are consumed too fast, the number of the future tasks of the coalition will be affected. This paper will develop a novel task allocation method based on Gini coefficient to make full use of limited energy resources of multi-robot system to maximize the number of tasks. At the same time, considering resources consumption,we incorporate the market-based allocation mechanism into our Gini coefficient-based method and propose a hybrid method,which can flexibly optimize the task completion number and the resource consumption according to the application contexts.Experiments show that the multi-robot system with limited energy resources can accomplish more tasks by the proposed Gini coefficient-based method, and the hybrid method can be dynamically adaptive to changes of the work environment and realize the dual optimization goals.展开更多
A new coordination scheme for multi-robot systems is proposed. A state space model of the multi- robot system is defined and constructed in which the system＇s initial and goal states are included along with the task ...A new coordination scheme for multi-robot systems is proposed. A state space model of the multi- robot system is defined and constructed in which the system＇s initial and goal states are included along with the task definition and the system＇s internal and external constraints. Task accomplishment is considered a transition of the system state in its state space （SS） under the system＇s constraints. Therefore, if there exists a connectable path within reachable area of the SS from the initial state to the goal state, the task is realizable. The optimal strategy for the task realization under constraints is investigated and reached by searching for the optimal state transition trajectory of the robot system in the SS. Moreover, if there is no connectable path, which means the task cannot be performed Successfully, the task could be transformed to be realizable by making the initial state and the goal state connectable and finding a path connecting them in the system＇s SS. This might be done via adjusting the system＇s configuration and/or task constraints. Experiments of multi-robot formation control with obstacles in the environment are conducted and simulation results show the validity of the proposed method.展开更多
Presents a multi robot cooperative assembly system (MRCAS) which is composed of an organizer computer, three industrial robots, PUMA 562 mounted on an omni directional vehicle, PUMA 760 and Adept I and organized into ...Presents a multi robot cooperative assembly system (MRCAS) which is composed of an organizer computer, three industrial robots, PUMA 562 mounted on an omni directional vehicle, PUMA 760 and Adept I and organized into a hierarchical structure with the cooperation organization on the top and the coordination motion at the bottom to solve the main problem of coordination and cooperation among robots, and concludes with experimental results that MRCAS is reconfigurable and adaptable as the mission changes.展开更多
Analysis and design techniques for cooperative flocking of nonholonomic multi-robot systems with connectivity maintenance on directed graphs are presented. First, a set of bounded and smoothly distributed control prot...Analysis and design techniques for cooperative flocking of nonholonomic multi-robot systems with connectivity maintenance on directed graphs are presented. First, a set of bounded and smoothly distributed control protocols are devised via carefully designing a class of bounded artificial potential fields （APF） which could guarantee the connectivity maintenance, col ision avoidance and distance stabilization simultaneously during the system evolution. The connectivity of the underlying network can be preserved, and the desired stable flocking behavior can be achieved provided that the initial communication topology is strongly connected rather than undirected or balanced, which relaxes the constraints for group topology and extends the previous work to more generalized directed graphs. Furthermore, the proposed control algorithm is extended to solve the flocking problem with a virtual leader. In this case, it is shown that al robots can asymptotically move with the desired velocity and orientation even if there is only one informed robot in the team. Finally, nontrivial simulations and experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.展开更多
This paper introduces a new control strategy for heterogeneous multi-robots systems dedicated to industrial logistic setups. This control strategy is based on both distributed intelligence and machine learning and inv...This paper introduces a new control strategy for heterogeneous multi-robots systems dedicated to industrial logistic setups. This control strategy is based on both distributed intelligence and machine learning and involves three parts: the rigid formation controller, the perception system and the path planner. Our controller is event-based and thus its control-coordination strategy can be self-adaptive and applied to real dynamic environment. During the navigating process, the multi-robots system derives the environment model, performs the path planning process that guaranties both the transportation constraints and the obstacle avoidance. For the validation, both simulation and real robot experiments are performed. The results show that the developed control strategy can be well used for realistic logistics applications.展开更多
A cooperative multi-robot system (CMRS) modeling method called fuzzy timed agent based Petri nets (FTAPN) is proposed in this paper, which has been extended from fuzzy timed object-oriented Petri net (FTOPN). The prop...A cooperative multi-robot system (CMRS) modeling method called fuzzy timed agent based Petri nets (FTAPN) is proposed in this paper, which has been extended from fuzzy timed object-oriented Petri net (FTOPN). The proposed FTAPN can be used to model and illustrate both the structural and dynamic aspects of CMRS, which is a typical multi-agent system (MAS). At the same time, supervised learning is supported in FTAPN. As a special type of high-level object, agent is introduced into FTAPN, which is used as a common modeling object in its model. The proposed FTAPN can not only be used to model CMRS and represent system aging effect, but also be refined into the object-oriented implementation easily. At the same time, it can also be regarded as a conceptual and practical artificial intelligence (AI) tool for multi-agent systems (MAS) into the mainstream practice of the software development.展开更多
Multi-robot cooperation problem has received increasing attention in the research community and has been extensively studied from different aspects. Space constrain problem is a major issue for building a multi-robot ...Multi-robot cooperation problem has received increasing attention in the research community and has been extensively studied from different aspects. Space constrain problem is a major issue for building a multi-robot system. This con- strain is a major hindrance for the efficient cooperation among robots in multi-robot applications. In this paper, we demonstrate a novel architecture of a multi-robot system without space restriction. Our architecture is based on the Internet of Things technology. We validated the proposed architecture using a case study considering a multi-robot combat application.展开更多
Multi-robot systems can be applied to patrol a concerned environment for security purposes.According to different goals,this work reviews the existing researches in a multi-robot patrolling field from the perspectives...Multi-robot systems can be applied to patrol a concerned environment for security purposes.According to different goals,this work reviews the existing researches in a multi-robot patrolling field from the perspectives of regular and adversarial patrolling.Regular patrolling requires robots to visit important locations as frequently as possible and a series of deterministic strategies are proposed,while adversarial one focuses on unpredictable robots’moving patterns to maximize adversary detection probability.Under each category,a systematic survey is done including problem statements and modeling,patrolling objectives and evaluation criteria,and representative patrolling strategies and approaches.Existing problems and open questions are presented accordingly.展开更多
Adaptive genetic algorithm A SA GA, a novel algorithm, which can dynamically modify the parameters of Genetic Algorithms in terms of simulated annealing mechanism, is proposed for path planning of loosely coordinated ...Adaptive genetic algorithm A SA GA, a novel algorithm, which can dynamically modify the parameters of Genetic Algorithms in terms of simulated annealing mechanism, is proposed for path planning of loosely coordinated multi robot manipulators. Over the task space of a multi robot, a strategy of decoupled planning is also applied to the evolutionary process, which enables a multi robot to avoid falling into deadlock and calculating of composite C space. Finally, two representative tests are given to validate A SA GA and the strategy of decoupled planning.展开更多
Laboratory experiments were conducted for falling U-chain,but explicit analytic form of the general equations of motion was not presented.Several modeling methods were developed for fish robots,however they just focus...Laboratory experiments were conducted for falling U-chain,but explicit analytic form of the general equations of motion was not presented.Several modeling methods were developed for fish robots,however they just focused on the whole fish’s locomotion which does little favor to understand the detailed swimming behavior of fish.Udwadia-Kalaba theory is used to model these two multi-body systems and obtain explicit analytic equations of motion.For falling U-chain,the mass matrix is non-singular.Second-order constraints are used to get the constraint force and equations of motion and the numerical simulation is conducted.Simulation results show that the chain tip falls faster than the freely falling body.For fish robot,two-joint Carangiform fish robot is focused on.Quasi-steady wing theory is used to approximately calculate fluid lift force acting on the caudal fin.Based on the obtained explicit analytic equations of motion(the mass matrix is singular),propulsive characteristics of each part of the fish robot are obtained.Through these two cases of U chain and fish robot,how to use Udwadia-Kalaba equation to obtain the dynamical model is shown and the modeling methodology for multi-body systems is presented.It is also shown that Udwadia-Kalaba theory is applicable to systems whether or not their mass matrices are singular.In the whole process of applying Udwadia-Kalaba equation,Lagrangian multipliers and quasi-coordinates are not used.Udwadia-Kalaba theory is creatively applied to dynamical modeling of falling U-chain and fish robot problems and explicit analytic equations of motion are obtained.展开更多
Soccer robot system is a tremendously challenging intelligent system developed to mimic human soccer competition based on the multi discipline research: robotics, intelligent control, computer vision, etc. robot path ...Soccer robot system is a tremendously challenging intelligent system developed to mimic human soccer competition based on the multi discipline research: robotics, intelligent control, computer vision, etc. robot path planning strategy is a very important subject concerning to the performance and intelligence degree of the multi robot system. Therefore, this paper studies the path planning strategy of soccer system by using fuzzy logic. After setting up two fuzziers and two sorts of fuzzy rules for soccer system, fuzzy logic is applied to workspace partition and path revision. The experiment results show that this technique can well enhance the performance and intelligence degree of the system.展开更多
Predicting the performance of intelligent multi-robot systems is advantageous because running physical experiments with teams of robots can be costly and time consuming. Controlling for every factor can be difficult i...Predicting the performance of intelligent multi-robot systems is advantageous because running physical experiments with teams of robots can be costly and time consuming. Controlling for every factor can be difficult in the presence of minor disparities (i.e. battery charge). Access to a variety of environmental configurations and hardware choices is prohibitive in many cases. With the eminent need for dependable robot controllers and algorithms, it is essential to understand when real robot performance can be accurately predicted. New prediction methods must account for the effects of digital and physical interaction between the robots that are more complex than just collision detection of 2D or physics-based 3D models. In this paper, we identify issues in predicting multi-robot performance and present examples of statistical and model-based simulation methods and their applicability to multi-robot systems. Even when sensor noise, latency and environmental configuration are modeled in some complexity, multi-robot systems interject interference and messaging latency, causing many prediction systems to fail to correlate to absolute or relative performance. We support this supposition by comparing results from 3D physics-based simulations to identical experiments with a physical robot team for a coverage task.展开更多
The dynamics properties of a kind of multi-fingered robot hand is analyzed. It is pointed out that the dynamics property of this kind of multifingered robot hand in the approaching process is quite different from that...The dynamics properties of a kind of multi-fingered robot hand is analyzed. It is pointed out that the dynamics property of this kind of multifingered robot hand in the approaching process is quite different from that in the grasping process and,different control algorithm should be taken in the two process. A position-force hybrid control algorithm is proposed which is applied to the control system of the University of Science and Technology Beijing double-thumb robot hand successfully.展开更多
Aiming at the robotic welding positioner with characteristic of parameter change, load change, nonlinearity, and an intelligent control system was researched and developed. This control system used a two-mode controll...Aiming at the robotic welding positioner with characteristic of parameter change, load change, nonlinearity, and an intelligent control system was researched and developed. This control system used a two-mode controller that based on Fuzzy and PID control method. The results of simulation show that the dynamic and steady performances of the intelligent controller are better than that of single PID or Fuzzy controller. This paper has made a detail theoretical analysis of the constitution design and real-time controlled software and brought up the design and fulfillment method of multi-task real-time control software of high precisely and numerically controlled welding positioner, which has a good result in practice.展开更多
基金supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(863 Program)(2015AA015403)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61404069,61401185)the Project of Education Department of Liaoning Province(LJYL052)
文摘Nowadays, robots generally have a variety of capabilities, which often form a coalition replacing human to work in dangerous environment, such as rescue, exploration, etc. In these operating conditions, the energy supply of robots usually cannot be guaranteed. If the energy resources of some robots are consumed too fast, the number of the future tasks of the coalition will be affected. This paper will develop a novel task allocation method based on Gini coefficient to make full use of limited energy resources of multi-robot system to maximize the number of tasks. At the same time, considering resources consumption,we incorporate the market-based allocation mechanism into our Gini coefficient-based method and propose a hybrid method,which can flexibly optimize the task completion number and the resource consumption according to the application contexts.Experiments show that the multi-robot system with limited energy resources can accomplish more tasks by the proposed Gini coefficient-based method, and the hybrid method can be dynamically adaptive to changes of the work environment and realize the dual optimization goals.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China (60428303).
文摘A new coordination scheme for multi-robot systems is proposed. A state space model of the multi- robot system is defined and constructed in which the system＇s initial and goal states are included along with the task definition and the system＇s internal and external constraints. Task accomplishment is considered a transition of the system state in its state space （SS） under the system＇s constraints. Therefore, if there exists a connectable path within reachable area of the SS from the initial state to the goal state, the task is realizable. The optimal strategy for the task realization under constraints is investigated and reached by searching for the optimal state transition trajectory of the robot system in the SS. Moreover, if there is no connectable path, which means the task cannot be performed Successfully, the task could be transformed to be realizable by making the initial state and the goal state connectable and finding a path connecting them in the system＇s SS. This might be done via adjusting the system＇s configuration and/or task constraints. Experiments of multi-robot formation control with obstacles in the environment are conducted and simulation results show the validity of the proposed method.
文摘Presents a multi robot cooperative assembly system (MRCAS) which is composed of an organizer computer, three industrial robots, PUMA 562 mounted on an omni directional vehicle, PUMA 760 and Adept I and organized into a hierarchical structure with the cooperation organization on the top and the coordination motion at the bottom to solve the main problem of coordination and cooperation among robots, and concludes with experimental results that MRCAS is reconfigurable and adaptable as the mission changes.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61175112)the Foundation for Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(G61321002)+3 种基金the Projects of Major International(Regional)Joint Research Program(61120106010)the Beijing Education Committee Cooperation Building Foundationthe Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University(IRT1208)the ChangJiang Scholars Program and the Beijing Outstanding Ph.D.Program Mentor Grant(20131000704)
文摘Analysis and design techniques for cooperative flocking of nonholonomic multi-robot systems with connectivity maintenance on directed graphs are presented. First, a set of bounded and smoothly distributed control protocols are devised via carefully designing a class of bounded artificial potential fields （APF） which could guarantee the connectivity maintenance, col ision avoidance and distance stabilization simultaneously during the system evolution. The connectivity of the underlying network can be preserved, and the desired stable flocking behavior can be achieved provided that the initial communication topology is strongly connected rather than undirected or balanced, which relaxes the constraints for group topology and extends the previous work to more generalized directed graphs. Furthermore, the proposed control algorithm is extended to solve the flocking problem with a virtual leader. In this case, it is shown that al robots can asymptotically move with the desired velocity and orientation even if there is only one informed robot in the team. Finally, nontrivial simulations and experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
文摘This paper introduces a new control strategy for heterogeneous multi-robots systems dedicated to industrial logistic setups. This control strategy is based on both distributed intelligence and machine learning and involves three parts: the rigid formation controller, the perception system and the path planner. Our controller is event-based and thus its control-coordination strategy can be self-adaptive and applied to real dynamic environment. During the navigating process, the multi-robots system derives the environment model, performs the path planning process that guaranties both the transportation constraints and the obstacle avoidance. For the validation, both simulation and real robot experiments are performed. The results show that the developed control strategy can be well used for realistic logistics applications.
文摘A cooperative multi-robot system (CMRS) modeling method called fuzzy timed agent based Petri nets (FTAPN) is proposed in this paper, which has been extended from fuzzy timed object-oriented Petri net (FTOPN). The proposed FTAPN can be used to model and illustrate both the structural and dynamic aspects of CMRS, which is a typical multi-agent system (MAS). At the same time, supervised learning is supported in FTAPN. As a special type of high-level object, agent is introduced into FTAPN, which is used as a common modeling object in its model. The proposed FTAPN can not only be used to model CMRS and represent system aging effect, but also be refined into the object-oriented implementation easily. At the same time, it can also be regarded as a conceptual and practical artificial intelligence (AI) tool for multi-agent systems (MAS) into the mainstream practice of the software development.
文摘Multi-robot cooperation problem has received increasing attention in the research community and has been extensively studied from different aspects. Space constrain problem is a major issue for building a multi-robot system. This con- strain is a major hindrance for the efficient cooperation among robots in multi-robot applications. In this paper, we demonstrate a novel architecture of a multi-robot system without space restriction. Our architecture is based on the Internet of Things technology. We validated the proposed architecture using a case study considering a multi-robot combat application.
基金supported in part by the International Collaborative Project of the Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology(16510711100)National Natural Science Foundation of China(61603090,61806051)+2 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(2232017D-08,2232017D-13)Shanghai Sailing Program(17YF1426100)by FDCT(Fundo para o Desenvolvimento das Ciencias e da Tecnologia)(119/2014/A3)
文摘Multi-robot systems can be applied to patrol a concerned environment for security purposes.According to different goals,this work reviews the existing researches in a multi-robot patrolling field from the perspectives of regular and adversarial patrolling.Regular patrolling requires robots to visit important locations as frequently as possible and a series of deterministic strategies are proposed,while adversarial one focuses on unpredictable robots’moving patterns to maximize adversary detection probability.Under each category,a systematic survey is done including problem statements and modeling,patrolling objectives and evaluation criteria,and representative patrolling strategies and approaches.Existing problems and open questions are presented accordingly.
文摘Adaptive genetic algorithm A SA GA, a novel algorithm, which can dynamically modify the parameters of Genetic Algorithms in terms of simulated annealing mechanism, is proposed for path planning of loosely coordinated multi robot manipulators. Over the task space of a multi robot, a strategy of decoupled planning is also applied to the evolutionary process, which enables a multi robot to avoid falling into deadlock and calculating of composite C space. Finally, two representative tests are given to validate A SA GA and the strategy of decoupled planning.
文摘Laboratory experiments were conducted for falling U-chain,but explicit analytic form of the general equations of motion was not presented.Several modeling methods were developed for fish robots,however they just focused on the whole fish’s locomotion which does little favor to understand the detailed swimming behavior of fish.Udwadia-Kalaba theory is used to model these two multi-body systems and obtain explicit analytic equations of motion.For falling U-chain,the mass matrix is non-singular.Second-order constraints are used to get the constraint force and equations of motion and the numerical simulation is conducted.Simulation results show that the chain tip falls faster than the freely falling body.For fish robot,two-joint Carangiform fish robot is focused on.Quasi-steady wing theory is used to approximately calculate fluid lift force acting on the caudal fin.Based on the obtained explicit analytic equations of motion(the mass matrix is singular),propulsive characteristics of each part of the fish robot are obtained.Through these two cases of U chain and fish robot,how to use Udwadia-Kalaba equation to obtain the dynamical model is shown and the modeling methodology for multi-body systems is presented.It is also shown that Udwadia-Kalaba theory is applicable to systems whether or not their mass matrices are singular.In the whole process of applying Udwadia-Kalaba equation,Lagrangian multipliers and quasi-coordinates are not used.Udwadia-Kalaba theory is creatively applied to dynamical modeling of falling U-chain and fish robot problems and explicit analytic equations of motion are obtained.
文摘Soccer robot system is a tremendously challenging intelligent system developed to mimic human soccer competition based on the multi discipline research: robotics, intelligent control, computer vision, etc. robot path planning strategy is a very important subject concerning to the performance and intelligence degree of the multi robot system. Therefore, this paper studies the path planning strategy of soccer system by using fuzzy logic. After setting up two fuzziers and two sorts of fuzzy rules for soccer system, fuzzy logic is applied to workspace partition and path revision. The experiment results show that this technique can well enhance the performance and intelligence degree of the system.
文摘Predicting the performance of intelligent multi-robot systems is advantageous because running physical experiments with teams of robots can be costly and time consuming. Controlling for every factor can be difficult in the presence of minor disparities (i.e. battery charge). Access to a variety of environmental configurations and hardware choices is prohibitive in many cases. With the eminent need for dependable robot controllers and algorithms, it is essential to understand when real robot performance can be accurately predicted. New prediction methods must account for the effects of digital and physical interaction between the robots that are more complex than just collision detection of 2D or physics-based 3D models. In this paper, we identify issues in predicting multi-robot performance and present examples of statistical and model-based simulation methods and their applicability to multi-robot systems. Even when sensor noise, latency and environmental configuration are modeled in some complexity, multi-robot systems interject interference and messaging latency, causing many prediction systems to fail to correlate to absolute or relative performance. We support this supposition by comparing results from 3D physics-based simulations to identical experiments with a physical robot team for a coverage task.
文摘The dynamics properties of a kind of multi-fingered robot hand is analyzed. It is pointed out that the dynamics property of this kind of multifingered robot hand in the approaching process is quite different from that in the grasping process and,different control algorithm should be taken in the two process. A position-force hybrid control algorithm is proposed which is applied to the control system of the University of Science and Technology Beijing double-thumb robot hand successfully.
文摘Aiming at the robotic welding positioner with characteristic of parameter change, load change, nonlinearity, and an intelligent control system was researched and developed. This control system used a two-mode controller that based on Fuzzy and PID control method. The results of simulation show that the dynamic and steady performances of the intelligent controller are better than that of single PID or Fuzzy controller. This paper has made a detail theoretical analysis of the constitution design and real-time controlled software and brought up the design and fulfillment method of multi-task real-time control software of high precisely and numerically controlled welding positioner, which has a good result in practice.
