Towards Predicting Collective Performance in Multi-Robot Teams

TL;DR

This paper introduces an analytical framework using dimensionless variable analysis to predict and understand the performance of multi-robot systems, simplifying complex parameters into key determinants for better design and optimization.

Contribution

It presents a novel application of dimensionless variable analysis to model and analyze multi-robot system performance, reducing complexity and revealing critical performance factors.

Findings

Model accurately predicts performance based on key parameters.

Identifies critical performance determinants and their interdependencies.

Provides insights for MRS design and optimization.

Abstract

The increased deployment of multi-robot systems (MRS) in various fields has led to the need for analysis of system-level performance. However, creating consistent metrics for MRS is challenging due to the wide range of system and environmental factors, such as team size and environment size. This paper presents a new analytical framework for MRS based on dimensionless variable analysis, a mathematical technique typically used to simplify complex physical systems. This approach effectively condenses the complex parameters influencing MRS performance into a manageable set of dimensionless variables. We form dimensionless variables which encapsulate key parameters of the robot team and task. Then we use these dimensionless variables to fit a parametric model of team performance. Our model successfully identifies critical performance determinants and their interdependencies, providing insight for MRS design and optimization. The application of dimensionless variable analysis to MRS offers a promising method for MRS analysis that effectively reduces complexity, enhances comprehension of system behaviors, and informs the design and management of future MRS deployments.