Resource constrained multirobot task allocation based on leader–follower coalition methodology

Abstract

This paper investigates the multirobot task allocation problem for a group of heterogeneous mobile robots with consideration of resource constraints. The robots and tasks are characterized by resources as required by task execution. Since each individual robot may not have sufficient resources to accomplish the assigned task alone, the robots must form coalitions to meet task-imposed resource constraints in task execution. A leader–follower based coalition methodology is developed in this paper, with detailed discussions on leader selection, preliminary coalition forming, coalition evaluation and submission procedures. When the tasks are assigned online and only one task is assigned at each time, the proposed leader–follower coalition method can maximize coalition utility for every assigned task, which further ensures greedy optimal solution for the resource constrained task allocation problem. Simulations and experiments performed on a group of mobile robots demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.