Koichi Ozaki

Synchronized motion by multiple mobile robots using communication

This paper addresses a method for synchronizing motion by multiple autonomous mobile robots using radio communication. The autonomous and decentralized robot system, ACTRESS, is a multi-agent robotic system including multiple autonomous mobile robots. The autonomous mobile robots are developed so as not only to act individually, but also to cooperate with the other robots if they cannot accomplish the task alone. The synchronized motion is sometimes required to execute such cooperative tasks. Every agent of ACTRESS is equipped with the communication system, which enables a message passing between any robotic agents. The prototype ACTRESS system is introduced, and cooperation among multiple robotic agents is discussed. A method for synchronization using the communication system is proposed. The method is applied to the prototype system, and side-by-side motion on the actual mobile robots is implemented as a example of synchronized motion.

Negotiation Method for Collaborating Team Organization among Multiple Robots

In this paper, an organization method for a collaborating team in a multi-agent robotic system is discussed. In order to realize a flexible and robust intelligent robotic system, we have been developing a distributed autonomous robotic system, ACTRESS, which is composed of multiple and heterogeneous robotic agents. In ACTRESS, every robotic agent aids other agents to achieve a common target, which cannot be carried out by a single agent. The agent requiring the collaboration organizes a collaborating team using communication, which consists of a leader agent (called coordinator) and some follower agents (called cooperators). For organizing the collaborating team, we developed an efficient negotiation method with a learning mechanism based on histories of past negotiations, and evaluated the method by an implemented simulator. Firstly, this paper presents teams and negotiation for organization in distributed autonomous robotic systems. Secondly, an organization strategy using negotiation with learning mechanism is discussed. Finally, the implementation and evaluation of this method are described, and experimental results are shown.