A Behavior-Based Strategy for Single and Multi-Robot Autonomous Exploration

• Main Authors: José L. Gordillo, Luis C. Carrillo-Arce, Edén A. Alanís-Reyes, Rogelio Soto, Luiz Chaimowicz, Jesús S. Cepeda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2012-09-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: multi-robot autonomous navigation and exploration; coordinated behavior; service-oriented robotics
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/12/9/12772

In this paper, we consider the problem of autonomous exploration of unknown environments with single and multiple robots. This is a challenging task, with several potential applications. We propose a simple yet effective approach that combines a behavior-based navigation with an efficient data structure to store previously visited regions. This allows robots to safely navigate, disperse and efficiently explore the environment. A series of experiments performed using a realistic robotic simulator and a real testbed scenario demonstrate that our technique effectively distributes the robots over the environment and allows them to quickly accomplish their mission in large open spaces, narrow cluttered environments, dead-end corridors, as well as rooms with minimum exits.