Autonomous re-alignment of multiple table robots

This paper reports an experimental system of autonomous omni directional mobile tables and their automatic rearrangement. This system 1. detects the position of meeting tables using a camera on ceiling, 2. makes a route from the detected position by a motion planning and 3. arranges the table robots to the desired positions. We developed 4 table robots as multiple omni-directional mobile robots and constructed a position detecting system using LEDs (Light Emitting Diode) attached on the tables. A camera is fixed on the ceiling. We also developed a motion planning algorithm for the robots. Consequently, the table robots can move from an arbitrary arrangement to an arbitrary arrangement. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm was confirmed.