Abstract
This paper describes a systematic method for design and implementation of distributed autonomous controllers in cooperative multi-robot systems. Based on our previous concepts of non-centralized grouping robots, and bionic self-reproducing, self-assembling, and self-organizing molecular mobile robots, a totally distributed coordination algorithm is developed to provide robustness to multi-robot manufacturing and assembly missions using Petri net based formal modeling methodologies. In a bionic assembly factory environment, where a number of autonomous mobile robots function with own controller and inter-robot communication facilities, each robot plans the subtasks sequence, decides the workstation for the next assembly step with general knowledge of the plant layout, and at the station performs the assembly subtask autonomously or cooperatively with other robots, avoiding resource competition and sharing operation experience. Embedded Petri net models of autonomous task execution and implementation issues are presented for a prototyping experimental system.
