A new Navigation Aware Communication Strategy for networked robotic systems

Recent advances in wireless technology have made it possible to equip every robot with inexpensive of the shelf wireless communication capabilities. Navigation is necessary for successful mission execution and reliable communication is essential for coordination and cooperation in multi-robot teams. Robots need to communicate vital information in environments that are typically challenging for communication. Therefore, in order to realize the full potentials of robotic networks, an integrative approach to communication and motion planning is needed, so that each robot considers the impact of its motion decisions on communication. In this work, we focus on Navigation Aware Communication Strategy, a problem that requires concepts from both communities. It requires an assessment of wireless link qualities at places that are not yet visited by the robots as well as a proper co-optimization of communication and navigation objectives, such that each robot chooses the data transfer rate that provides the best balance between its navigation and communication. We propose a transmission protocol, which ensures a satisfying amount of bandwidth for robotic transmissions.