Provably Correct Closed-Loop Control for Multiple Mobile Robot Systems

This paper introduces and advocates a new approach to the coordination of the motion of multiple mobile robots. In contrast to the current literature solutions, based on the execution of off-line generated plans, this work develops a state-based, closed-loop control mechanism ensuring in a provable manner the correct concurrent robot movement. The concept consists of partitioning the robots’ paths into sectors and allowing each robot to move freely within a sector, whereas sector crossing is guarded with a real-time policy that guarantees collision and deadlock avoidance.