A Critical Review of Communications in Multi-robot Systems

Abstract

Purpose of Review This review summarizes the broad roles that communication formats and technologies have played in enabling multi-robot systems. We approach this field from two perspectives: of robotic applications that need communication capabilities in order to accomplish tasks, and of networking technologies that have enabled newer and more advanced multi-robot systems. Recent Findings Through this review, we identify a dearth of work that holistically tackles the problem of co-design and co-optimization of robots and the networks they employ. We also highlight the role that data-driven and machine learning approaches play in evolving communication pipelines for multi-robot systems. In particular, we refer to recent work that diverges from hand-designed communication patterns, and also discuss the “sim-to-real” gap in this context. Summary We present a critical view of the way robotic algorithms and their networking systems have evolved, and make the case for a more synergistic approach. Finally, we also identify four broad Open Problems for research and development, while offering a data-driven perspective for solving some of them.

Robust MADER: Decentralized and Asynchronous Multiagent Trajectory Planner Robust to Communication Delay

“…Decentralized planners are more scalable and robust to failures of the centralized machine. Despite these advantages, a decentralized scheme requires communication between the agents, and communication delays could potentially introduce failure in the trajectory deconfliction between the agents, which is essential to guarantee safety [7]. multiagent planners can also be classified according to whether or not they are asynchronous.…”

Multi-Robot Systems and Cooperative Object Transport: Communications, Platforms, and Challenges

“…There are many challenges and research topics on MRS communication. Gielis et al propose a survey of MRS communication [39]. They focus on the MRS applications that need communication and network technologies for more powerful MRS.…”

“…However, the contradiction between high communication and computation energy consumption, the onboard system's limited resource, the current wireless network's delay, and MRS's real-time communication requirement has not been well resolved for explicit communication. 5G, Bluetooth low energy, and more intelligent communication methods integrated with AI technologies may bring more promising communication performance [39].…”

Time-Inverted Kuramoto Model Meets Lissajous Curves: Multi-Robot Persistent Monitoring and Target Detection

“…Hence, our algorithm prove to be a valid solution in scenarios where communication between robots is unfeasible. This situation can arise from several reasons, such as security concerns, cost reduction initiatives, the necessity for interactions between diverse robots from different companies, adversarial environmental conditions, or simply for technological limitations [52]. A safe and networkless motion planning and control algorithm can find plenty of applications including but not limited to agriculture-related applications, environmental monitoring, delivery services, warehouse and logistics, space exploration, search and rescue among others.…”