Multi AGV Coordination Tolerant to Communication Failures

• Main Authors: Diogo Matos, Pedro Costa, José Lima, Paulo Costa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: Robotics
• Subjects: multi-AGV control; path planning; Timed Enhanced A*; tolerance to communication faults
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/10/2/55

Most path planning algorithms used presently in multi-robot systems are based on offline planning. The Timed Enhanced A* (TEA*) algorithm gives the possibility of planning in real time, rather than planning in advance, by using a temporal estimation of the robot’s positions at any given time. In this article, the implementation of a control system for multi-robot applications that operate in environments where communication faults can occur and where entire sections of the environment may not have any connection to the communication network will be presented. This system uses the TEA* to plan multiple robot paths and a supervision system to control communications. The supervision system supervises the communication with the robots and checks whether the robot’s movements are synchronized. The implemented system allowed the creation and execution of paths for the robots that were both safe and kept the temporal efficiency of the TEA* algorithm. Using the Simtwo2020 simulation software, capable of simulating movement dynamics and the Lazarus development environment, it was possible to simulate the execution of several different missions by the implemented system and analyze their results.