Multi-Robot Formation Planning in Maze-Like Environments Consisting of Narrow Passages Using Graph Search

This paper presents a formation planning method for a group of mobile robots navigating complex maze-like environments with walls and narrow passages. For a group of robots to move in complex maze-like environments, the robots need to move in a formation that maintains a proper relative position to each other. In addition, the robots need to adapt their formation to safely traverse narrow passages. Our proposed formation planning method, based on a 2D grid map, determines an optimal formation sequence along a given global path to traverse narrow passages while avoiding collisions with walls. Through simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed formation planning method effectively plans an optimal formation sequence in complex environments consisting of multiple narrow passages. To verify that the proposed method can be effectively applied in the real-world, we also conduct experiments in a virtual experimental environment built almost identical to the real-world environment. © 2013 IEEE.