Multiscouting: Guiding distributed manipulation with multiple mobile sensors

Dartmouth Technical Report PCS-TR98-332

	Michael G. Ross

Date: June 1998

URL (compressed postscript): <http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/reports/TR98-332.ps.Z> (856KB)

URL (PDF): <http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/reports/TR98-332.pdf> (292KB)

Abstract:
 This thesis investigates the use of multiple mobile sensors to guide the
 motion of a distributed manipulation system. In our system, multiple robots
 cooperatively place a large object at a goal in a dynamic, unstructured,
 unmapped environment. We take the system developed in [Rus, Kabir, Kotay,
 Soutter 1996], which employs a single mobile sensor for navigational tasks,
 and extend it to allow the use of multiple mobile sensors. This allows the
 system to perform successful manipulations in a larger class of spaces than
 was possible in the single scout model. We focus on the development of a
 negotiation protocol that enables multiple scouts to cooperatively plan
 system motion. This algorithm enhances the previous' system's scalability
 and adds greater fault-tolerance. Two alternate algorithms for cooperation:
 a modification of negotiation and a bidding protocol, are also discussed.
 Finally, an implementation of the negotiation protocol is described and
 experimental data produced by the implementation is analyzed.

Note:
 Senior Honors Thesis.  Advisor: Daniela Rus.
 Source code available 
 <a href="http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/reports/TR98-332.code.tar.Z">by ftp</a>