CoCoA: Coordinated Cooperative Localization for Mobile Multi-Robot Ad Hoc Networks

Mobile robot teams are particularly suited to applications where infrastructure is unavailable or damaged since they can be used to quickly form an infrastructure-less mobile ad hoc network performing tasks in a distributed manner. In such deployment scenarios, localization of individual robots is essential for enabling many applications. In this paper, we propose CoCoA, Coordinated Cooperative localization for mobile multi-robot Ad Hoc Networks, that is low-cost, quickly deployable, energy-efficient, and provides reasonable accuracy for the applications. In CoCoA, only a subset of the robots in the mobile robot team are equipped with external localization devices (e.g. GPS, laser rangers, vision sensors). Subsequently, while robots perform their tasks, they cooperate to help localize each other without requiring static landmarks to be deployed. In addition, CoCoA coordinates the localization operations of robots to reduce energy consumption. Using detailed simulations and localization models calibrated from experimental data, we find that CoCoA is effective in reducing energy consumption while providing good localization accuracy.