Multi-robot Deployment From LTL Specifications with Reduced Communication

TL;DR

This paper presents a hierarchical framework for automatically deploying multi-robot teams based on LTL specifications, focusing on reducing inter-robot communication during execution.

Contribution

It introduces an algorithm that minimizes communication among robots while ensuring the team satisfies complex global specifications.

Findings

Reduced communication strategies successfully implemented

Framework guarantees satisfaction of LTL specifications

Applicable to unicycle robot teams

Abstract

In this paper, we develop a computational framework for fully automatic deployment of a team of unicycles from a global specification given as an LTL formula over some regions of interest. Our hierarchical approach consists of four steps: (i) the construction of finite abstractions for the motions of each robot, (ii) the parallel composition of the abstractions, (iii) the generation of a satisfying motion of the team; (iv) mapping this motion to individual robot control and communication strategies. The main result of the paper is an algorithm to reduce the amount of inter-robot communication during the fourth step of the procedure.