The Robotarium: A remotely accessible swarm robotics research testbed

TL;DR

The Robotarium provides a remotely accessible, safe, multi-robot research testbed that overcomes traditional resource barriers, enabling broader research and education in swarm robotics.

Contribution

It introduces the design and operation of a remote multi-robot testbed with integrated safety features and performance guarantees, expanding access for researchers and students.

Findings

Enables remote access to multi-robot experiments

Implements safety routines with provable guarantees

Reduces barriers to multi-robot research and education

Abstract

This paper describes 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-robot 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 and discusses the considerations one must take when making complex hardware remotely accessible. In particular, safety must be built into the system already at the design phase without overly constraining what coordinated control programs users can upload and execute, which calls for minimally invasive safety routines with provable performance guarantees.