Swarm robotics for object transportation

Abstract

In this paper a system is proposed whereby a group of small and inexpensive LEGO robots cooperate autonomously to transport a relatively much larger object to a specific location. In achieving this objective, the robots were able to generate a formation, recognise and locate neighbouring robot positions, control their motion and coordinate as a team in order to move the object to a set target location. Cooperative transportation algorithms were implemented, tested and evaluated on a physical setup, including pushing, caging and grasping. Results demonstrate that any desired formation shape can be generated and maintained without distance or orientation constraints. Caging and grasping algorithms yielded an accurate delivery performance, exhibiting reliability across different scenarios.