Safe, Remote-Access Swarm Robotics Research on the Robotarium

TL;DR

The paper introduces the Robotarium, a remotely accessible multi-robot testbed designed to democratize multi-robot research by ensuring safety and accessibility without constraining user control.

Contribution

It presents the design and operation of a safe, remotely accessible multi-robot research facility that addresses resource constraints and safety concerns in multi-robot experiments.

Findings

Provides a scalable, safe remote access platform for multi-robot research

Ensures safety with minimally invasive routines and performance guarantees

Enables broader access for researchers and students to advanced robotics hardware

Abstract

This paper describes the development of the Robotarium -- a remotely accessible, multi-robot research facility. The impetus behind the Robotarium is that multi-robot testbeds constitute an integral and essential part of the multi-agent research cycle, yet they are expensive, complex, and time-consuming to develop, operate, and maintain. These resource constraints, in turn, limit access for large groups of researchers and students, which is what the Robotarium is remedying by providing users with remote access to a state-of-the-art multi-robot test facility. This paper details the design and operation of the Robotarium as well as connects these to the particular considerations one must take when making complex hardware remotely accessible. In particular, safety must be built in already at the design phase without overly constraining which coordinated control programs the users can upload and execute, which calls for minimally invasive safety routines with provable performance guarantees.