Multi-robot Information Fusion : Considering spatial uncertainty models

• The work presented in this thesis covers the topic of deployment for mobile robot teams. By connecting robots in teams they can perform a better job than each individual is capable of. It also gives redundancy, increases robustness, provides scalability, and increases efficiency. Multi-robot Information Fusion also results in a broader perspective for decision making. This thesis focuses on methods for estimating formation and trajectories and how these can be used for deployment of a robot team. The problems covered discuss what impact trajectories and formation have on the total uncertainty when exploring unknown areas. The deployment problem is approached using a centralized Kalman filter, for investigation of how team formation affects error propagation. Trajectory estimation is done using a smoother, where all information is used not only to estimate the trajectory of each robot, but also to align trajectories from different robots. Both simulation and experimental results are presented in the appended papers. It is shown that sensor placements can substantially affect uncertainty during deployment. When deploying a robot team the formation can be used as a tool for balancing error propagation among the robot states. A robust algorithm for associating rendezvous observations to align robot trajectories is also presented. Trajectory alignment is used as an efficient and cost-effective method for joining mapping information within robot teams. When working with robot teams, sensor placement and formation should be considered to obtain the maximum from the system. It is also of great value to mix robots with different characteristics since it is shown that using sensor fusion the robots can inherit each other’s characteristics if sensors are used correctly. Information sharing requires modularity and general models, which consumecomputational resources. Over time computer resources will become cheaper, allowing for distribution, and each robot will become more self-contained. Together with increased wireless bandwidth this will enable larger numbers of robots to cooperate.

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