Reconfiguration of a 2D Structure Using Spatio-Temporal Planning and Load Transferring

TL;DR

This paper introduces two novel methods for reconfiguring 2D structures with multiple robots, focusing on efficiency, collision avoidance, and maintaining structural connectivity, with significant improvements in planning time and robot movement.

Contribution

The paper presents two new reconfiguration algorithms combining spatio-temporal planning and target swapping to enhance efficiency and reduce robot idle time and travel distance.

Findings

Spatio-temporal planning reduces planning times significantly.

Target swapping decreases robot waiting time and travel distance.

Methods maintain structural connectivity during reconfiguration.

Abstract

We present progress on the problem of reconfiguring a 2D arrangement of building material by a cooperative group of robots. These robots must avoid collisions, deadlocks, and are subjected to the constraint of maintaining connectivity of the structure. We develop two reconfiguration methods, one based on spatio-temporal planning, and one based on target swapping, to increase building efficiency. The first method can significantly reduce planning times compared to other multi-robot planners. The second method helps to reduce the amount of time robots spend waiting for paths to be cleared, and the overall distance traveled by the robots.