Title: Guiding a group of people by a team of mobile robots

Authors: Edgar A. Martinez-Garcia, Akihisa Ohya, Shin'ichi Yuta

Addresses: Division of Control and Instrumentation, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 639798, Singapore. ' Intelligent Robot Laboratory, Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan. ' Intelligent Robot Laboratory, Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan

Abstract: This paper describes a multi-robot system purposed to guide a group of people that encompasses a strategy to conduct and crowd persons by a team of three mobile robots. It includes: a methodology to localise (track) the members of the group; a suitable multi-robot system architecture design; and a motion planner that synchronises and controls (guides) the trajectory of the group. A key problem in the implementation of the system is a way of controlling the conduction with no communication between humans and the team of robots (no signal of any type for guiding). Some experimental and simulation results are presented that exhibit the effectiveness of the overall system.

Keywords: motion planning; multi-robot systems; people-guiding; trajectory control; robot control; multiple robots; mobile robots; robot teams; localisation; trajectory control; tracking control; simulation; guidance; formation; herding; vehicle autonomous systems; autonomous vehicles.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVAS.2006.012214

International Journal of Vehicle Autonomous Systems, 2006 Vol.4 No.2/3/4, pp.308 - 327

Published online: 28 Jan 2007 *

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