Conflict-Based Search for Multi-Agent Path Finding with Elevators

TL;DR

This paper addresses the complex problem of multi-agent path finding with elevators, proposing a conflict-based search method to efficiently generate conflict-free routes considering elevator interactions and multi-floor navigation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel conflict-based search algorithm tailored for MAPF-E, handling elevator states and multi-floor coordination to improve path planning efficiency.

Findings

The proposed method effectively reduces conflicts among agents.

It demonstrates improved planning efficiency in multi-floor scenarios.

The approach handles larger state spaces with elevator dynamics.

Abstract

This paper investigates a problem called Multi-Agent Path Finding with Elevators (MAPF-E), which seeks conflict-free paths for multiple agents from their start to goal locations that may locate on different floors, and the agents can use elevators to travel between floors. The existence of elevators complicates the interaction among the agents and introduces new challenges to the planning. On the one hand, elevators can cause many conflicts among the agents due to its relatively long traversal time across floors, especially when many agents need to reach a different floor. On the other hand, the planner has to reason in a larger state space including the states of the elevators, besides the locations of the agents.