Heterogeneous Teams of Modular Robots for Mapping and

Exploration (Grabowski et al.)

• A team of Millibots (centimeter-scale robots) collaborate to map and explore

unknown environments
• To provide two-way communications within the group, each Millibot is equipped
with a radio frequency transmitter and receiver. These units can exchange data at
4800 bps at a distance of up to 100 meters (size and power consideration).
• Three sensor modules: short-range sonars (0-0.5m), long-range sonars (0.15-1.8m),
and infrared proximity (0-0.25m).
Heterogeneous Teams of Modular Robots for Mapping and
Exploration (Grabowski et al.)

• Collaboration
¾ To overcome their individual limitations and accomplish important tasks
ranging from localization to surveillance, mapping, and exploration
¾ Self-localization is critical for the success of collaboration
o dead-reckoning, vision-based localization, GPS, landmarks, or map-based
positioning?
o Millibot localization is based on the trilateration: determine the position based on
distance measurements to
known landmarks or beacons
¾ Collaborative localization
o Localization module
Use ultrasound and radio pulses
to measure the distance between
itself and other robot
Heterogeneous Teams of Modular Robots for Mapping and
Exploration (Grabowski et al.)

• Mapping and exploration

¾ A group of Millibots can be equipped with similar sensors to cover more
area in less time than a single robot
¾ During operation, each robot collects information locally about is
surroundings
¾ This data is transmitted to the team leader where it is used to build a
local map centric to that robot
¾ The team leader (or human operator) can utilize the robot’s lcoal map
information to direct the Millibot around obstacles, investigate
anomalies or generate new paths
¾ In an unknown environment, robots move to collect new information
about the environment and build composite maps. In turn, the maps
provide clues about the most viable areas of exploration that will further
increase the knowledge about the environment
 Heterogeneous Teams of Modular Robots for Mapping and
Exploration (Grabowski et al.)
• Mapping and exploration
¾ Keep line-of-sight to maintain positions
¾ The team leader can merge the information
from several local maps into a single global
map using an occupancy grid with a
Bayesian update rule
¾ This method allows the combination of
sensor readings from different robots and
different time instances.
¾ Zero corresponds to a free cell and one is
occupied. Initially, all cells are 0.5.