A Multi-Robot Path Planning Scheme and Management based on Power Availability

抄録

Various path planning schemes for multiple robots have been proposed, most of which consider factors like shortest distance, and task priority. For service robots which are in continuous operation, frequent recharging is often required at charging (docking) stations. Hence, the available power is also one of the main factors which must be considered while path planning. Moreover, docking stations are expensive and occupy space. Hence, an intelligent management of limited number of docking points for a large number of robots is required. This paper proposes a multi-robot path planning scheme which considers the available power in the robots along with other factors like task priority, and can manage a limited number of docking points for a large number of robots. Conditions of collision avoidance, emergency, and when all docking points are occupied are also discussed. Experimental results in real environment show that the proposed path planning scheme is able to allocate the most appropriate dock to the robots.