Multi-Source Encapsulation With Guaranteed Convergence Using Minimalist Robots

TL;DR

This paper introduces a decentralized control algorithm for minimalist robots that guarantees safe convergence to multiple sources without relying on memory or communication, demonstrating robustness to noise and occlusions.

Contribution

The paper proposes a novel decentralized control method for minimalist robots that ensures convergence to multiple sources without communication or localization.

Findings

Algorithm guarantees safe convergence to sources

Robustness demonstrated under noise and occlusions

Trade-offs characterized between parameters

Abstract

We present a decentralized control algorithm for a minimalist robotic swarm lacking memory, explicit communication, or relative position information, to encapsulate multiple diffusive target sources in a bounded environment. The state-of-the-art approaches generally require either local communication or relative localization to provide guarantees of convergence and safety. We quantify trade-offs between task, control, and robot parameters for guaranteed safe convergence to all the sources. Furthermore, our algorithm is robust to occlusions and noise in the sensor measurements as we demonstrate in simulation.