Design and implementation of fuzzy cooperative catching controller for multiple mobile robots

In this paper, the use of cooperative knowledge for a catching problem with multiple mobile robots is considered. To achieve successful capture of an escaping target, the robots have to move toward the escaping target after the robots drive the target into the catching area formed by themselves. Then, the cooperative knowledge is represented as the fuzzy formation rules, and used to surround the escaping target. The fuzzy formation rules are tuned by genetic algorithm in advance of experiments. The same controllers with the approach rules and the tuned fuzzy formation rules are mounted on three robots. The catching motions of three robots and the target are measured. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed cooperation control is effective to catch the escaping target.