A3-[Multibot] - Overview

Mapping and Coordination with Heterogenous Mobile Robots

The A3 project addresses the problem of exploration with mobile robots and developed several approach to exploration mapping and localization for single and multi-robot systems.  In the third phase of the project, we extend our exploration techniques towards cooperating mixed human-robots teams. In several scenarios, teams consisting of humans and robots can be expected to solve the task at hand efficiently and safely for the humans. This is, for example, the case in rescue missions.

We are especially interested in mixed human-robot teams that operate in a coordinated fashion. Serious problems arise from the fact that the communication and coordination between humans and robots is non-trivial. Also the ability to share information about spatial concepts as well as objects in space needs to be addressed. This capability will enable a robot, for instance, to execute commands such as "check if there is a person in the kitchen" even in unknown environments.

Realizing such capabilities in an artificial system requires developments in the context of appropriate means for representing space, communication between humans and robots, and efficient coordination techniques. These are the issues addressed in the third phase, together with an integration scenario the seeks to provide a joint platforms for components from different areas of the SFB/TR 8.