Work

A Novel Strategy for Connectivity Maintenance and Recovery in Heterogeneous Multi-Robot Systems

Year: 2025

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: Ensuring connectivity and coordination in heterogeneous multi-robot systems (MRS) navigating complex environments is a critical challenge, especially when communication constraints and obstacles cause robots to become lost or disconnected. This paper presents a novel approach integrating Model Predictive Control (MPC) with Generalized Connectivity Maintenance (GCM) to enable real-time path adaptation while preserving connectivity. We introduce a decentralized decision-making framework that enables robots to recover lost members dynamically. When reconnection is infeasible, the system adapts the mission to continue while accounting for disconnected robots. Our method is evaluated through extensive simulations, showing its scalability and effectiveness in maintaining connectivity and ensuring mission success. Additionally, we propose a new evaluation metric that comprehensively assesses system performance, considering connectivity, coordination, and mission success in challenging environments.

Source: IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

DOI: 10.1109/iros60139.2025.11247228

Authors: Enrico Fiasché, Ezio Malis, Philippe Martinet

Institutions: Université Côte d'Azur, ACENTAURI: Intelligence artificielle et algorithmes efficaces pour la robotique autonome, Centre Inria d'Université Côte d'Azur

Language: English

Topic: Distributed Control Multi-Agent Systems

Subfield: Computer Networks and Communications

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Agence Nationale de la Recherche

Awards: G2659019386, UCA Systèmes Numériques pour l'Homme, G6803667113