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Reactive Coordination and Adaptive Lattice Formation in Mobile Robotic Surveillance Swarms

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Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems

Part of the book series: Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics ((STAR,volume 83))

Abstract

We present here a set of decentralised control laws to facilitate lattice formation and reactive coordination and control of a swarm of mobile ground based robots. The control laws rely on local, indirect communication, which we implement in the form of virtual forces governed by physics based laws, computed from range and bearing measurements relative to the individual robots. Furthermore, we introduce the Virtual Robot Node (VRN) architecture to extend the capabilities of the cooperative formation control in terms of lattice cohesion and reactive dynamic abilities. The characteristics of the control laws are analysed through a number of 3D physics-based simulation experiments. We show that the basic proposed methods exhibit robustness to simulated sensor noise. We further show a number of improvements made by employing the VRN architecture, in terms of reducing errors in specified formation constraints, and additional dynamic capabilities.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Digital Image Research Centre, CISM, Kingston University, London, England

    Robert J. Mullen, Sarah Barman & Paolo Remagnino

  2. School of Computing and Mathematics, Ulster University, Belfast, Northern Ireland

    Dorothy Monekosso

Authors
  1. Robert J. Mullen
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  2. Dorothy Monekosso
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  3. Sarah Barman
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  4. Paolo Remagnino
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert J. Mullen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. EPFL ENAC IIE DISAL, Station 2, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Alcherio Martinoli

  2. EPFL STI IMT LSRO, Station 9, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Francesco Mondada

  3. 430 UCB, Engineering Drive 1111, Boulder, 80309, Colorado, USA

    Nikolaus Correll

  4. EPFL ENAC IIE DISAL, Station 2, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Grégory Mermoud

  5. , Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, 30332, Georgia, USA

    Magnus Egerstedt

  6. , Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics, Drexel University, Randell 115, Chestnut St. 3141, Philadelphia, 19104, Pennsylvania, USA

    M. Ani Hsieh

  7. , Department of Electrical Engineering and, University of Tennessee, Middle Drive 1520, Knoxville, 37996, Tennessee, USA

    Lynne E. Parker

  8. Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, Odense, 5230, Denmark

    Kasper Støy

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Mullen, R.J., Monekosso, D., Barman, S., Remagnino, P. (2013). Reactive Coordination and Adaptive Lattice Formation in Mobile Robotic Surveillance Swarms. In: Martinoli, A., et al. Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems. Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, vol 83. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32723-0_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32723-0_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-32722-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-32723-0

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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