Time-optimal Coordination of Mobile Robots along Specified Paths

TL;DR

This paper introduces a MILP-based method for time-optimal coordination of mobile robots along predefined paths, effectively handling kinodynamic constraints with exact linear modeling and demonstrating practical efficiency through simulations.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel MILP formulation that enables exact linear modeling of second-order dynamics for time-optimal robot coordination, improving upon previous methods.

Findings

Solution is resolution-optimal and computationally feasible.

Exact linear modeling of second-order constraints is achieved.

Simulations validate the approach's effectiveness.

Abstract

In this paper, we address the problem of time-optimal coordination of mobile robots under kinodynamic constraints along specified paths. We propose a novel approach based on time discretization that leads to a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulation. This problem can be solved using general-purpose MILP solvers in a reasonable time, resulting in a resolution-optimal solution. Moreover, unlike previous work found in the literature, our formulation allows an exact linear modeling (up to the discretization resolution) of second-order dynamic constraints. Extensive simulations are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.