Behaviour synthesis for co-operant mobile robot control

The Control & Instrumentation Group at the University of Salford are currently engaged in a three year research programme to investigate the control problems associated with multiple co-operating mobile robots. In particular, a `behaviour´, Brooks (1986) or `reactive´, Arkin (1989) based control approach is being examined that will eventually allow multiple robots to co-operatively perform a material handling task. This paper seeks to examine the area of behavioural control and proposes a novel sensor driven control architecture that allows complex mobile robot behaviour to be synthesised from a relatively simple behavioural repertoire. Furthermore, the design is intended to facilitate the co-ordinated control of multiple mobile robots performing a given co-operative task. The underlying mechanisms of this behaviour synthesis for co-operant mobile robot control are detailed and a discussion of simulated application examples included