multirobot

A multirobot system (MRS) is an arrangement of two or more autonomous robots that operate in the same environment to achieve shared objectives. The robots may be homogeneous or heterogeneous in capabilities, and they coordinate their sensing, planning, and actions to perform tasks that exceed the capacity of a single agent.

In multirobot systems, coordination can be centralized, where a single controller assigns tasks and coordinates actions, or distributed, where robots negotiate and synchronize locally. Communication networks, such as ad hoc radio links or mesh networks, support sharing state estimates, maps, and plans. Robustness emerges from redundancy and collaboration.

Common methods include task allocation and scheduling (auction/market-based, contract net), consensus for agreement on estimates, formation control for spatial organization, and swarm robotics inspired by collective animal behavior. Approaches range from explicit, rule-based coordination to behavior-based and learning-based strategies.

Applications span search and rescue, environmental monitoring, mapping and exploration, disaster response, agriculture, infrastructure inspection, warehouse logistics, and autonomous transportation coordination. In industry, multirobot systems can increase throughput and resilience, while in research they provide platforms for studying collective intelligence and distributed AI.

Challenges include scalability to large numbers of agents, fault tolerance and graceful degradation, heterogeneity of hardware and capabilities, communication constraints and delays, energy management, and safety and accountability. Simulation, standardized benchmarks, and open-source middleware support development and comparison.

History and trends: The concept derives from distributed robotics and multi-agent systems, with early experiments in cooperative navigation and task planning. Recent work emphasizes learning-based coordination, autonomy under uncertainty, and integration with human operators in human–robot collaboration settings.