Inter-Robot Relative Localization System

Many swarm-robotic tasks require robots to be aware of the location of their nearby teammates. In the past, this has typically been accomplished using some centralized global positioning system which informs robots about the location of themselves and others in global coordinates. Such an approach might be infeasible in some situations if full scalability is required. An attractive alternative is on-board relative positioning, which allows robots to observe the relative location of other nearby robots.

An infrared-based on-board relative positioning and communication system is currently deployed on the Moorebot platform. This system has been shown to be effective for collaborative dead-reckoning and formation movement. A new system for the Khepera III platform which also uses infrared is currently in development which should significantly improve range, accuracy, update rate, and communication speed.

Team and Collaborators

Sponsors

ANSF (CNSE), SNSF, FCT

References

2009

A Fast On-Board Relative Positioning Module for Multi-Robot Systems

J. Pugh; X. Raemy; C. Favre; R. Falconi; A. Martinoli 

IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, Focused Section on Mechatronics in Multi Robot Systems. 2009. Vol. 14, p. 151-162. DOI : 10.1109/TMECH.2008.2011810.

2006

Small-Scale Robot Formation Movement Using a Simple On-Board Relative Positioning System

J. Pugh; A. Martinoli 

2006. 10th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics (ISER), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 6-10. p. 297-306. DOI : 10.1007/978-3-540-77457-0_28.

Relative Localization and Communication Module for Small-Scale Multi-Robot Systems

J. Pugh; A. Martinoli 

2006. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Miami, Florida, USA, May 15-19, 2006. p. 188-193. DOI : 10.1109/ROBOT.2006.1641182.