Simultaneous arrival on target in an obstacle field using Dubins-Line-of-Sight (DLOS) algorithm

Abstract

When a robots mission is planned based on the capability of a single robot its loss will cost the whole mission. This limitation can be effectively overcome by using a group of robots on a cooperative mission. However, this introduces several technical and implementation challenges such as cooperative strategies, path and trajectory planning of a group of robots, obstacles avoidance, rendezvous planning. This paper presents the design, simulation, and experimental verification of a cooperative robot mission for target searching and simultaneous arrival on target. Cooperative strategies and obstacle avoidance based on Dubins paths were designed and implemented. A novel rendezvous algorithm for simultaneous arrival on target through velocity control and a simple Dubins-Line-of-Sight (DLOS) algorithm has been successfully implemented. The effectiveness and performance of the designed cooperative strategies and path planning were successfully verified using simulations and experiments. The solution is general and can be applied to a wide range of robot applications.