An intern-sufficient cloud for large-scale multi-robot systems and its application in multitarget navigation

Due to generally limited computing capability of an individual robot, cloud-based robotic systems are increasingly used. However, applications in large-scale multi-robot systems will be hindered by communication congestion and consequent lack of computing resources. In this study, an intern-sufficie...

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Main Authors: Jingtao Zhang, Jun Zheng, Xiaodong Zhang, Kun Zhang, Pengjie Xu, Qirong Tang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2021-06-01
Series:International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/17298814211015866
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spelling doaj-aaa25c65591149b7995ff3d4bb5218772021-06-30T23:04:18ZengSAGE PublishingInternational Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems1729-88142021-06-011810.1177/17298814211015866An intern-sufficient cloud for large-scale multi-robot systems and its application in multitarget navigationJingtao Zhang0Jun Zheng1Xiaodong Zhang2Kun Zhang3Pengjie Xu4Qirong Tang5 Laboratory of Robotics and Multibody System, School of Mechanical Engineering, , Shanghai Department of Electrical and Control Engineering, Research Institute of Zhejiang University-Taizhou, Zhejiang Beijing Key Laboratory of Intelligent Space Robotic Systems Technology and Applications, , Beijing Laboratory of Robotics and Multibody System, School of Mechanical Engineering, , Shanghai Laboratory of Robotics and Multibody System, School of Mechanical Engineering, , Shanghai Laboratory of Robotics and Multibody System, School of Mechanical Engineering, , ShanghaiDue to generally limited computing capability of an individual robot, cloud-based robotic systems are increasingly used. However, applications in large-scale multi-robot systems will be hindered by communication congestion and consequent lack of computing resources. In this study, an intern-sufficient cloud is investigated to alleviate the burden of communication and thus support more robots. At the same time, it enables heterogeneously idle computing resources of robots inside the system to be shared on demand, instead of relying on cloud servers and communication infrastructures, to make the scope of application wider. To this end, a hierarchical communication mechanism and a resource schedule algorithm are proposed. In the mechanism, the transmission power, signal-to-noise ratio, available bandwidth, and other relevant features are taken into account to estimate link quality for data transmission. Then, the constrained communication conditions and heterogeneous computing resources are balanced by the resource scheduling algorithm, so that the most appropriate computing resources of the robots are contributed to the mobile cloud. Furthermore, a multitarget navigation task is applied on the cloud to validate the work. Thereby, simulations and experiments are performed. The results show that the proposed intern-sufficient cloud can provide stable resources of communication and computation for a multi-robot system with 20 physical robots while achieving more effective multitarget navigation.https://doi.org/10.1177/17298814211015866
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Jingtao Zhang
Jun Zheng
Xiaodong Zhang
Kun Zhang
Pengjie Xu
Qirong Tang
spellingShingle Jingtao Zhang
Jun Zheng
Xiaodong Zhang
Kun Zhang
Pengjie Xu
Qirong Tang
An intern-sufficient cloud for large-scale multi-robot systems and its application in multitarget navigation
International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems
author_facet Jingtao Zhang
Jun Zheng
Xiaodong Zhang
Kun Zhang
Pengjie Xu
Qirong Tang
author_sort Jingtao Zhang
title An intern-sufficient cloud for large-scale multi-robot systems and its application in multitarget navigation
title_short An intern-sufficient cloud for large-scale multi-robot systems and its application in multitarget navigation
title_full An intern-sufficient cloud for large-scale multi-robot systems and its application in multitarget navigation
title_fullStr An intern-sufficient cloud for large-scale multi-robot systems and its application in multitarget navigation
title_full_unstemmed An intern-sufficient cloud for large-scale multi-robot systems and its application in multitarget navigation
title_sort intern-sufficient cloud for large-scale multi-robot systems and its application in multitarget navigation
publisher SAGE Publishing
series International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems
issn 1729-8814
publishDate 2021-06-01
description Due to generally limited computing capability of an individual robot, cloud-based robotic systems are increasingly used. However, applications in large-scale multi-robot systems will be hindered by communication congestion and consequent lack of computing resources. In this study, an intern-sufficient cloud is investigated to alleviate the burden of communication and thus support more robots. At the same time, it enables heterogeneously idle computing resources of robots inside the system to be shared on demand, instead of relying on cloud servers and communication infrastructures, to make the scope of application wider. To this end, a hierarchical communication mechanism and a resource schedule algorithm are proposed. In the mechanism, the transmission power, signal-to-noise ratio, available bandwidth, and other relevant features are taken into account to estimate link quality for data transmission. Then, the constrained communication conditions and heterogeneous computing resources are balanced by the resource scheduling algorithm, so that the most appropriate computing resources of the robots are contributed to the mobile cloud. Furthermore, a multitarget navigation task is applied on the cloud to validate the work. Thereby, simulations and experiments are performed. The results show that the proposed intern-sufficient cloud can provide stable resources of communication and computation for a multi-robot system with 20 physical robots while achieving more effective multitarget navigation.
url https://doi.org/10.1177/17298814211015866
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