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An inchworm-inspired motion strategy for robotic swarms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2021

Kasra Eshaghi*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King’s College Road, Toronto, ONM5S 3G8, Canada
Zendai Kashino
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King’s College Road, Toronto, ONM5S 3G8, Canada
Hyun Joong Yoon
Affiliation:
School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Daegu Catholic University, Hayang, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk 712-702, Republic of Korea
Goldie Nejat
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King’s College Road, Toronto, ONM5S 3G8, Canada
Beno Benhabib
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King’s College Road, Toronto, ONM5S 3G8, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Effective motion planning and localization are necessary tasks for swarm robotic systems to maintain a desired formation while maneuvering. Herein, we present an inchworm-inspired strategy that addresses both these tasks concurrently using anchor robots. The proposed strategy is novel as, by dynamically and optimally selecting the anchor robots, it allows the swarm to maximize its localization performance while also considering secondary objectives, such as the swarm’s speed. A complementary novel method for swarm localization, that fuses inter-robot proximity measurements and motion commands, is also presented. Numerous simulated and physical experiments are included to illustrate our contributions.

Type
Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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