An online coalition based approach to solving resource constrained multirobot task allocation problem

In this paper, we propose an online coalition based method for solving the resource constrained multirobot task allocation problem. The robots and tasks are characterized by resources as required by task execution. Since a single robot cannot always possess sufficient resources, the robots are required to form coalitions to accomplish the assigned tasks. This paper presents an online coalition based approach to generating feasible solution in task allocation. It is shown that the proposed online method can always select the most suitable robot to form coalitions for the assigned tasks. Simulations performed on a robot group demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.