Multi-robot flooding algorithm for the exploration of unknown indoor environments

In this paper we study the problem of multi-robot exploration of unknown indoor environments that are modeled as trees. Specifically, our approach consider that robots deploy and communicate with active landmarks in every intersection they encounter. We present a novel algorithm that is guaranteed to completely explore any tree with m edges and diameter D, by allowing k robots to be fed into the tree one at a time. We prove that the exploration time of the algorithm grows in linear proportion with the size of the tree and is not bigger than D+m. Simulation results are presented that corroborate the theoretical analysis.