Task allocation and distributed cooperation strategies in a group of object transferring robots

Based on the constrain-move concept previously proposed by the authors (1997), two distributed cooperation strategies for a group of multiple mobile robots to turn an object about a fixed point and move it along a straight line are introduced. In these protocols, some of the robots passively constrain the object and the other ones move the load. It is assumed that the robots grasp the object through some friction contacts. The cooperation strategies are designed in such a way that the task of stabilizing the robot-object contact is simplified. Moreover, task allocation in the group is performed in such a way that the size of the robot team is reduced. Information system and robot behavior required by the team transferring the object are also discussed. In addition, simulation and experimental results are reported to show the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed approach.