Abstract
In order for multiple mobile robots to solve congestion, a novel methodology that consists of two approaches, intelligent cruise control technique and behavior rule, is proposed in this paper. For this purpose, first, our previously-proposed cruise control technique is improved. This enables robots to reduce velocity not only for the congestion preceding them, but also for the decelerating robot in front, using external interaction force generated among robots with a virtual damper. After that, a behavior rule in connection with the intelligent cruise control technique is designed and provided on congested lanes where robots slowly move. Thus, stronger interaction force affects the robots, and they move more slowly on the congested lanes. In simulation experiments, the proposed methodology is compared to two other cruise control techniques. These are quantitatively evaluated on the basis of a criterion, i.e., behavioral feature, such as average velocity of all the robots and standard deviation of each velocity. Finally, the effectiveness of the methodology for solving the congestion is shown.
