Multi-robot exploration under the constraints of wireless networking

A multi-robot system can be highly beneficial for exploration, which is a core robotics task. Application domains include, for example, surveillance, reconnaissance, planetary exploration or rescue missions. When using a team of robots, the overall performance can be much faster and more robust. In this article, an approach to multi-robot exploration is presented that takes the constraints of wireless networking into account. An algorithm is introduced based on a population that samples the possible moves of all robots and a utility to select the best one in each time step. Results from two scenarios are presented. In the first one, a team of robots explores its environment while permanently maintaining an ad hoc network structure with each other as well as a base station at a fixed location. In the second one, the robots move freely as a pack while maintaining communication with each other.