ISSN:
1573-7527
Keywords:
multi-agent cooperation
;
deadlock handling
;
multirobot systems
;
multi-agent tasks
;
distributed autonomous robotic systems
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Computer Science
,
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
Notes:
Abstract Multi-agent robotic systems are useful in many practical applications. For some tasks, such as holding a conference, cooperation among agents are necessary. For other tasks, such as cleaning a room, multiple agents can work in parallel for better performance. This paper provides help-based (HCP) and coordination-based (CCP) protocols for controlling agents to accomplish multi-agent tasks. The HCP utilizes efficient negotiation to coordinate agents into groups. The CCP improves overall performance by exchanging local knowledge among agents and making decisions in parallel. A reactive and modularized agent architecture was employed to implement the protocols. Since each protocol is embedded into the architecture, it is efficient and effective. In addition, the protocols are deadlock-free. The protocols were utilized to solve the Object-Sorting Task, which abstracts two characteristics of tasks: parallelism and cooperation. The experimental results showed that 1) both HCP and CCP are stable under different workload; 2) the protocols can effectively utilize the agent-power to achieve super-linear improvement; 3) The CCP is better than the HCP in both performance and speedup.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1008813631823
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