E-MIP: a new mechanism for dynamic coalition formation in a robot team

Abstract

When mobile robots colonies move in dynamic, not predictable and time variable environments, the problem now is on how can they achieve distributed solving strategies for solving complicate and difficult tasks. The development of a new robotic architecture for the coordination of robot colonies in dangerous and dynamic environments is outlined. The name of this new architecture is Economic Metaphor of Italian Politics (E-MIP), because it takes inspiration from the political organizations of Italian democratic governments, where the leader isn't only one robot but a government of three robots constitutes it while a second group of robots, the Robot Citizens, are the executor of the mission. Moreover, it is based on economic theories for the dynamic regeneration of the coalition in accordance with external conditions, choosing from time to time the best coalition capable to apply the most suitable strategy for the current situation. To validate the effectiveness of our approach we have realized a framework based on the MissionLab robot simulation software developed at the Mobile Robot Lab of the Georgia Institute of Technology.