Toward an interdisciplinary integration between multi-agents systems and multi-robots systems: a case study

Author(s)

Botelho, Wagner Tanaka ^[1] ; Bruno Marietto, Maria Das Gracas ^[1] ; Mendes, Eduardo De Lima ^[1] ; De Sousa, Daniel Rodrigues ^[2] ; Pimentel, Edson Pinheiro ^[1] ; Da Silva, Vera Lucia ^[3] ; Dos Santos, Tamires ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Fed Univ ABC, Ctr Math Computat & Cognit, Ave Estados 5001, BR-09210580 Santo Andre, SP - Brazil

^[2] Fac Technol FATEC Itaquera, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Fed Inst Educ Sci & Technol Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Review article
• Source: KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING REVIEW; v. 35, 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Multi-Robot System (MRS) is composed of a group of robots that work cooperatively. However, Multi-Agent System (MAS) is computational systems consisting of a group of agents that interact with each other to solve a problem. The central difference between MRS and MAS is that in the first case, the agent is a robot, and in the second, it is a software. Analyzing the scientific literature, it is possible to notice that few studies address the integration between MAS and MRS. In order to achieve the interdisciplinary integration, the theoretical background of these areas must be considered in this paper, so that the integration can be applied using a case study of decentralized MRS. The objective of this MRS is to track and surround a stationary target. Also, it has been implemented and validated in the robot simulator called Virtual Robot Experimentation Platform (V-REP). In the validation of the proposed MRS, a scenario with three robots and a stationary target were defined. In the tracking task, the robot can detect the target whose position is not known a priori. When the detection occurs, the V-REP informs the target position to the robot because the environment is discretized into a grid of rectangular cells. After that, all the robots are directed to the target, and the surround task is realized. In this task, a mathematical model with direct communication between the robots was used to keep the robots equidistant therefrom and from each other. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/17929-2 - Simulation study on bio-inspired mobile robots and Multi-Robots systems in the development of CAD-3D models
• Grantee: Eduardo de Lima Mendes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• FAPESP's process: 15/02301-3 - TB-Horse: development of a bio-inspired Quadruped robot prototype for rough terrain
• Grantee: Wagner Tanaka Botelho
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants