Distributed Multi-Robot-Trailer Scheduling Based on Communication between Charging Stations for Robot Being Towed to Recharge

Abstract

It is necessary for robot-trailer to tow robot to the charging station for recharging when the robot fails, or the battery cannot support the robot to the charging station. However, the delay of towing robot is affecting the working efficiency of mobile robot. Based on the task priority of the mobile robot and impact degree on the room after the power failure, the paper proposes a distributed scheduling of robot being towed to recharge for reducing the delay expectation. This work designs a Distributed Three Nodes Service (DTNS) scheduling based on the communication between charging stations. The two-step path-planner based on decision factor and travel path is used in the scheme. Simulations show that the distributed scheduling of this work can well ensure the success communication in the case of low power, and DTNS can well reduce the delay expectation of towing robot to recharge. Compared with First Come First Service (FCFS) scheduling, DTNS reduces the towing delay by 48.71%, 48.83% and 40.45% when there are some robots sending the towing request, and by 58.77%, 39.97% and 41.90% when no robot sends request in the case of 1, 2 and 3 robot trailers in the service space respectively.