NDLI: A Distributed Task Allocation Algorithm for a Multi-Robot System in Healthcare Facilities

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Das, Gautham P. McGinnity, Thomas M. Coleman, Sonya A. Behera, Laxmidhar
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	Various ambient assisted living (AAL) technologies have been proposed for improving the living conditions of elderly people. One of them is to introduce robots to reduce dependency on support staff. The tasks commonly encountered in a healthcare facility such as a care home for elderly people are heterogeneous and are of different priorities. A care home environment is also dynamic and new emergency priority tasks, which if not attended shortly may result in fatal situations, may randomly appear. Therefore, it is better to use a multi-robot system (MRS) consisting of heterogeneous robots than designing a single robot capable of doing all tasks. An efficient task allocation algorithm capable of handling the dynamic nature of the environment, the heterogeneity of robots and tasks, and the prioritisation of tasks is required to reap the benefits of introducing an MRS. This paper proposes Consensus Based Parallel Auction and Execution (CBPAE), a distributed algorithm for task allocation in a system of multiple heterogeneous autonomous robots deployed in a healthcare facility, based on auction and consensus principles. Unlike many of the existing market based task allocation algorithms, which use a time extended allocation of tasks before the actual execution is initialised, the proposed algorithm uses a parallel auction and execution framework, and is thus suitable for highly dynamic real world environments. The robots continuously resolve any conflicts in the bids on tasks using inter-robot communication and a consensus process in each robot before a task is assigned to a robot. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the CBPAE by comparing its simulation results with those of an existing market based distributed multi-robot task allocation algorithm and through experiments on real robots.
Starting Page	33
Ending Page	58
Page Count	26
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09210296
Journal	Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems
Volume Number	80
Issue Number	1
e-ISSN	15730409
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2014-11-14
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Ambient assisted living Robots in healthcare facilities Multi-robot systems Multi-robot task allocation Distributed task allocation Market based task allocation Control, Robotics, Mechatronics Electrical Engineering Artificial Intelligence (incl. Robotics) Mechanical Engineering
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Artificial Intelligence Control and Systems Engineering Mechanical Engineering Electrical and Electronic Engineering Software

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

MuRoCo: A Framework for Capability- and Situation-Aware Coalition Formation in Cooperative Multi-Robot Systems

Complex Task Allocation in Mobile Surveillance Systems

An Efficient Stochastic Clustering Auction for Heterogeneous Robotic Collaborative Teams

Coordination and Longevity in Multi-Robot Teams Involving Miniature Robots

Robot-Assisted Bridge Inspection

Distributed Constraint Force Approach for Coordination of Multiple Mobile Robots

A Generic Framework for Distributed Multirobot Cooperation

Market-Based Task Assignment for Cooperative Timing Missions in Dynamic Environments

Distributed Reinforcement Learning for Coordinate Multi-Robot Foraging

A Distributed Task Allocation Algorithm for a Multi-Robot System in Healthcare Facilities

Similar Documents

MuRoCo: A Framework for Capability- and Situation-Aware Coalition Formation in Cooperative Multi-Robot Systems

Complex Task Allocation in Mobile Surveillance Systems

An Efficient Stochastic Clustering Auction for Heterogeneous Robotic Collaborative Teams

Coordination and Longevity in Multi-Robot Teams Involving Miniature Robots

Robot-Assisted Bridge Inspection

Distributed Constraint Force Approach for Coordination of Multiple Mobile Robots

A Generic Framework for Distributed Multirobot Cooperation

Market-Based Task Assignment for Cooperative Timing Missions in Dynamic Environments

Distributed Reinforcement Learning for Coordinate Multi-Robot Foraging

A Distributed Task Allocation Algorithm for a Multi-Robot System in Healthcare Facilities