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Robotics Research pp 599–616Cite as

A Complete Algorithm for Generating Safe Trajectories for Multi-robot Teams

Part of the Springer Proceedings in Advanced Robotics book series (SPAR,volume 3)

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the problem of planning collision-free trajectories to navigate a team of labeled robots from a set of start locations to a set of goal locations, where robots have pre-assigned and non-interchangeable goals. We present a solution to this problem for a centralized team operating in an obstacle-free, two-dimensional workspace. Our algorithm allows robots to follow Optimal Motion Plans (OMPs) to their goals when possible and has them enter Circular HOlding Patterns (CHOPs) to safely navigate congested areas. This OMP\(+\)CHOP algorithm is shown to be safe and complete, and simulation results show scalability to hundreds of robots.

Keywords

  • Optimal Motion Planning (OMP)
  • Motion Plan
  • Optimal Reciprocal Collision Avoidance (ORCA)
  • Intermediate Waypoints
  • Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs)

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the support of ONR grants N00014-09-1-1051 and N00014-09-1-103, NSF grant IIS-1426840, and Exyn Technologies. Sarah Tang is supported by NSF Research Fellowship Grant No. DGE-1321851. The authors would also like to thank Levi Cai from the University of Pennsylvania for his implementation of the M* algorithm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Sarah Tang & Vijay Kumar

Authors
  1. Sarah Tang
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  2. Vijay Kumar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah Tang .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy , Pisa, Italy

    Antonio Bicchi

  2. Inst. für Informatik, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg Inst. für Informatik, Freiburg, Germany

    Wolfram Burgard

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Tang, S., Kumar, V. (2018). A Complete Algorithm for Generating Safe Trajectories for Multi-robot Teams. In: Bicchi, A., Burgard, W. (eds) Robotics Research. Springer Proceedings in Advanced Robotics, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60916-4_34

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60916-4_34

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