Multi-robot cooperation method based on the ant algorithm

The ant algorithm is an optimization algorithm that is gained by observing the real ant colonies, and it is very useful in solving difficult optimization problems and distributed control problems. The algorithm is modeled on a key concept called "stigmergy" of the ant societies, which is used in our algorithm to design the cooperation of multi-robots. In an unknown environment, one of the most important problems in the multi-robot system is to decide how many robots are needed to complete a task. With the concept "stigmergy", the number of the robots cooperating on a task is decided according to the difficulty of the task. Given the definition of the "task deadlock", an adaptive attenuation factor to eliminate task deadlock is introduced in the cooperation algorithm. Simulations show the effectiveness of the algorithm.