Abstract
The exploration and mapping of unknown environments, where the reliable exchange of data between the robots and the base station (BS) also plays a pivotal role, are some of the fundamental problems of mobile robotics. The maximum energy of a robot is utilized for navigation and communication. The communication between the robots and the BS is limited by the transmission range and the battery capacity. This situation inflicts constraints while designing an effective communication strategy for a multi-robot system (MRS). The biggest challenge lies in designing a unified framework for navigation and communication of the robots. The underlying notion is to utilize the minimum energy for communication (without limiting the range/efficiency of communication) to ensure that the maximum energy can be used for navigation (for larger area coverage). In this work, we present a communication strategy by using adaptive flower pollination optimization algorithm for MRS in conjunction with simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technique for navigation and map making. The proposed strategy has been compared with multiple routing algorithms in terms of network life time and energy efficiency. The proposed strategy performs 4% better compared with harmony search algorithm (HSA) and approximately 10% better compared with distance aware residual energy-efficient stable election protocol (DARE-SEP) in terms of the total network lifetime when 50% of robots are alive. The performance drastically improves by 20% till the last robot is alive compared with HSA and approximately 26% compared with DARE-SEP. Hence, the energy saved during communication with the utilization of proposed strategy helps the robots explore more areas, which ultimately elevates the efficacy of the whole system.
Highlights
IntroductionThe multi-robot system (MRS) delivers better fault tolerance and flexibility because of dynamic reformation and coordination
The simulation results of AFPA-EERP have been analyzed in terms of performance metrics, such as energy efficiency and network lifetime, performance at different energy levels, and effect of robot density, and compared with LEACH [39], hierarchical cluster-based routing (HCR) [85], evolutionary-based clustered routing protocol (ERP) [86], distance-based residual energy efficient stable election protocol (DRESEP) [87], harmony search algorithm-based energy-efficient routing protocol (HSAERP) [88], Ant colony optimization energy efficient routing protocol (ACOEERP) [57], and Distance Aware Residual Energy-efficient Stable Election Protocol (DARE-SEP) [89]
SCOPE In this correspondence, various approaches for multi-robot communication were reviewed, considering the communication constraints involved in the field of multi-robot communication
Summary
The MRS delivers better fault tolerance and flexibility because of dynamic reformation and coordination. Researchers worldwide have developed many projects of MRS catering to various applications [2]–[6]. Based on the research projects, the type of MRS applications can be further classified into unmanned ground vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), unmanned surface vehicles, and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV). Various articles have been published in the area of MRS regarding survey analysis, review of research, frameworks, application domains, and taxonomies.
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