New coordination scheme for multi-robot systems based onstate space models*

A new coordination scheme for multi-robot systems is proposed. A state space model of the multi-robot system is defined and constructed in which the system's initial and goal states are included along with thetask definition and the system's internal and external constraints. Task accomplishment is considered a transitionof the system state in its state space (SS) under the system's constraints. Therefore, if there exists a connectablepath within reachable area of the SS from the initial state to the goal state, the task is realizable. The optimalstrategy for the task realization under constraints is investigated and reached by searching for the optimal statetransition trajectory of the robot system in the SS. Moreover, if there is no connectable path, which means the taskcannot be performed successfully, the task could be transformed to be realizable by making the initial state and thegoal state connectable and finding a path connecting them in the system's SS. This might be done via adjusting thesystem's configuration and/or task constraints. Experiments of multi-robot formation control with obstacles in theenvironment are conducted and simulation results show the validity of the proposed method.