A Time-Space Network Model for Collision-free Routing of Planar Motions in a Multi-Robot Station
J Xin (Zhengzhou University)
Chuang Meng (Zhengzhou University)
F. Schulte (TU Delft - Transport Engineering and Logistics)
Jinzhu Peng (Zhengzhou University)
Yanhong Liu (Zhengzhou University)
R.R. Negenborn (TU Delft - Transport Engineering and Logistics)
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Abstract
This article investigates a new collision-free routing problem of a multirobot system. The objective is to minimize the cycle time of operation tasks for each robot while avoiding collisions. The focus is set on the operation of the end-effector and its connected joint, and the operation is projected onto a circular area on the plane. We propose to employ a time-space network (TSN) model that maps the robot location constraints into the route planning framework, leading to a mixed integer programming (MIP) problem. A dedicated genetic algorithm is proposed for solving this MIP problem and a new encoding scheme is designed to fit the TSN formulation. Simulation experiments indicate that the proposed model can obtain the collision-free route of the considered multirobot system. Simulation results also show that the proposed genetic algorithm can provide fast and high-quality solutions, compared to two state-of-the-art commercial solvers and a practical approach.