Real-time task assignment for cooperative transportation by multiple mobile robots

Deals with a task-assignment method for cooperative transportation by multiple mobile robots in an open and dynamic area. The problem can be divided into three parts. The dynamic change of tasks, the dynamic change of the robot team composition, and the level of difficulty in finding the optimal solution. The authors propose the following approach: (1) by inputting sensor information to a “task template” and a “task-interaction template”, tasks will be dynamically generated; (2) the planner consists of two parts, the task-assignment planner and the motion planner (the latter is made independently for each task); and (3) the task-assignment problem is solved by using a linear programming method based on the execution priority described in the “task templates”. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by a cooperative transport simulation