Multi-robot mixing of nonholonomic mobile robots

In this paper we investigate how much “mixing” one can impose on a team of nonholonomic unicycle robots. This notion is encoded through braids, and a controller is proposed that executes the braids while ensuring that the team is collision-free. Mixing bounds, the bounds on the amount of mixing possible under this braid controller, are also provided. Results are validated when they are implemented on a team of mobile robots which are cooperatively achieving desired mixing levels.