A Cooperative Multi-Robot Control Architecture

A prototype cooperative multi-robot control architecture suitable for the eventual construction of large space structures has been developed. Inspired by the biological example of cooperative nest building by social insects, the architecture's robotic construction agents perform their construction duties stigmergically, i.e., without direct inter-agent communication and without a preprogrammed global blueprint of the final design. Communication and coordination between individual agents occurs indirectly through sensed modifications made to the structure by each agent. Phase I simulations have established that an idealized form of the proposed architecture was indeed capable of producing representative large space structures with autonomous robots. During Phase II, the prototype multi-robot architecture will be comprehensively developed. The idealized robot subsystem models utilized in Phase I will be replaced with detailed engineering models. Phase II research objectives include the development of a comprehensive simulation of the cooperative multi-robot control architecture, development of parametric design relationships between the key robotic subsystems, and a system demonstration using commercial robotic hardware. It is anticipated that the Phase II research program will lead to a robust multi-robot control strategy that will make the use of autonomous robots a viable option for the assembly of future large space structures.