Mobile robots coordination and its application to iCART (Intelligent cooperative autonomous robot transporters)

In this presentation, we first introduce a coordinated motion control of multiple robots based on compliant motion control of each robot, assuming that motion of each robot could not be controlled precisely even with control of internal force applied to the robots. Then, a leader-follower concept is introduced for dealing with motion inconsistencies among robots. When we consider coordination of mobile robots, the slippage between a mobile base and the ground is inevitable and its odometry could not be used for the coordination of the multiple robots especially having physical interactions. A new coordinated motion control scheme is introduced to overcome the problem inspired by a “caster” mechanism. The control system is applied to iCART (Intelligent Cooperative Autonomous Robot Transporters), which is a new robot system handling a vehicle instead of a driver. Coordination of multiple mobile robots for handling a vehicle is a challenging task for multiple mobile robots. Through the development of iCART, we will discuss issues relating to robotics as systems integration.