Sensors 2015, 15(5), 10771-10790; https://doi.org/10.3390/s150510771
Multiple Leader Candidate and Competitive Position Allocation for Robust Formation against Member Robot Faults
1
Yonsei Institute of Convergence Technology, Yonsei University, 85 Songdogwahak-ro, Incheon 406-840, Korea
2
School of Integrated Technology, Yonsei University, 85 Songdogwahak-ro, Incheon 406-840, Korea
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Yajing Shen
Received: 1 April 2015 / Revised: 2 May 2015 / Accepted: 5 May 2015 / Published: 6 May 2015
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors for Robots)
Abstract
This paper proposes a Multiple Leader Candidate (MLC) structure and a Competitive Position Allocation (CPA) algorithm which can be applicable for various applications including environmental sensing. Unlike previous formation structures such as virtual-leader and actual-leader structures with position allocation including a rigid allocation and an optimization based allocation, the formation employing the proposed MLC structure and CPA algorithm is robust against the fault (or disappearance) of the member robots and reduces the entire cost. In the MLC structure, a leader of the entire system is chosen among leader candidate robots. The CPA algorithm is the decentralized position allocation algorithm that assigns the robots to the vertex of the formation via the competition of the adjacent robots. The numerical simulations and experimental results are included to show the feasibility and the performance of the multiple robot system employing the proposed MLC structure and the CPA algorithm. View Full-Text
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Kwon, J.-W.; Kim, J.H.; Seo, J. Multiple Leader Candidate and Competitive Position Allocation for Robust Formation against Member Robot Faults. Sensors 2015, 15, 10771-10790.