Multiple Co-operant Mobile Robot Research

Fred and Ginger co-operatively relocating a 'tray' whilst avoiding an obstacle en route. Each robot is autonomous, having its own on-board power supply, computing, goal direction and obstacle detection sensors, and a means of sensing the motion of the other robot when performing a co-operative task.

Enhanced Fred and Ginger, now with simple manipulators, ultra-sonic obstacle and infra red beacon sensors, and RF communications. These robots were used on a project called MACTA (Multiple Automata for Complex Task Achievement.) The research was focused upon a complex nuclear domain application.

Early Fred & Ginger Research Funding and Selected Publications:

• Barnes D.P., A behaviour synthesis architecture for co-operant mobile robots. In Advanced Robotics & Intelligent Machines. Eds. Gray J.O., and Caldwell D.G., IEE Control Engineering Series 51, pp. 295 - 314, 1996, ISBN 0 852296 853 1.

MACTA Project Research Funding and Selected Publications:

The aim of the MACTA project was to create a proof of concept prototype which would demonstrate that complex tasks can be solved by multiple behavioural robots if a predictive planning capability is integrated into the overall system. This is a substantial issue in the research community where it has been strongly argued by some that behavioural systems cannot carry out tasks more complex than box pushing or can collecting. The research was focused upon a complex nuclear domain application. This involved a mobile robot carrying out a particular task in a nuclear enclosure whilst being monitored by a second mobile robot carrying a camera. The purpose of the camera was to maintain a clear view of the first robot's activities. This multi-robot system is currently operated manually which is slow and places a high cognitive load upon the operator. It is hoped that the results of the MACTA project will allow some degree of autonomous robot control to be incorporated into such a complex task scenario. The ultimate aim is to allow an operator to specify task goals via a high level planner which in turn communicates appropriate sub-tasks to multiple autonomous mobile robots for execution. The Fred and Ginger robots were designed and built at the University of Salford for this research project.

• Barnes D.P., Ghanea-Hercock R.A., Aylett R.S., and Coddington A., Many hands make light work? An investigation into behaviourally controlled co-operant autonomous mobile robots. In Proc. 1st International Conference on Autonomous Agents. Marina del Rey, pp. 413 - 420, February 1997. PDF version available.
• Barnes D.P., Aylett R.S., Coddington A.M., and Ghanea-Hercock R.A., A hybrid approach to supervising multiple co-operant autonomous mobile robots. In Proc. 8th International Conference on Advanced Robotics (ICAR '97). Monterey, pp. 531 - 536, July 1997. PDF version available.
• Aylett R.S., Coddington A.M., Barnes D.P., and Ghanea-Hercock R.A., What does a planner need to know about execution? In Proc. 4th European Conference on Planning: Recent Advances in AI Planning. Eds. S. Steel and R. Alami. Springer, pp. 26 - 38, 1997.
• Aylett R.S., and Barnes D.P., A Multi-robot architecture for planetary rovers. In Proc. 5th European Space Agency Workshop on Advanced Space Technologies for Robotics & Automation. ESTEC, The Netherlands, December 1998. PDF version available.

The information provided on this and other pages by me, Dave Barnes, is under my own personal responsibility and not that of Aberystwyth University. Similarly, any opinions expressed are my own and are in no way to be taken as those of Aberystwyth University.