Modeling and Distributed Implementation of Synchronization and Coordination in Multi-Robot Systems

Abstract

This paper deals with control system design and implementation problems encountered in multiple robot systems. A systematic method of constructing hierarchical net models is described for their direct implementation such that the net is translated into the detailed net by stepwise refinements from the highest task specification level to the lowest machine control level. Basic Petri nets are extended as a prototyping tool for expressing real-time control of robotic systems based on command response concept. The hierarchical and distributed coordinators are introduced to perform the synchronization and coordination of the robots and other machines in the system. The proposed method allows a direct coding of the inter-task cooperation from the net specification and can be implemented using off–the-shelf real-time executives.