Diogo Miguel Matos

Abstract

Abstract
Most path planning algorithms used presently in multi-robot systems are based on offline planning. The Timed Enhanced A* (TEA*) algorithm gives the possibility of planning in real time, rather than planning in advance, by using a temporal estimation of the robot’s positions at any given time. In this article, the implementation of a control system for multi-robot applications that operate in environments where communication faults can occur and where entire sections of the environment may not have any connection to the communication network will be presented. This system uses the TEA* to plan multiple robot paths and a supervision system to control communications. The supervision system supervises the communication with the robots and checks whether the robot’s movements are synchronized. The implemented system allowed the creation and execution of paths for the robots that were both safe and kept the temporal efficiency of the TEA* algorithm. Using the Simtwo2020 simulation software, capable of simulating movement dynamics and the Lazarus development environment, it was possible to simulate the execution of several different missions by the implemented system and analyze their results.

Abstract
Task Scheduling assumes an integral topic in the efficiency of multiple mobile robots systems and is a key part in most modern manufacturing systems. Advances in the field of combinatorial optimisation have allowed the implementation of algorithms capable of solving the different variants of the vehicle routing problem in relation to different objectives. However few of this approaches are capable of taking into account the nuances associated with the coordinated path planning in multi-AGV systems. This paper presents a new study about the implementation of the Simulated Annealing algorithm to minimise the time and distance cost of executing a tasks set while taking into account possible pathing conflicts that may occur during the execution of the referred tasks. This implementation uses an estimation of the planned paths for the robots, provided by the Time Enhanced A* (TEA*) to determine where possible pathing conflicts occur and uses the Simulated Annealing algorithm to optimise the attribution of tasks to each robot, in order to minimise the pathing conflicts. Results are presented that validate the efficiency of this algorithm and compare it to an approach that does not take into account the estimation of the robots paths.

Abstract
Automated guided vehicles (AGV) represent a key element in industries’ intralogistics and the use of AGV fleets bring multiple advantages. Nevertheless, coordinating a fleet of AGV is already a complex task but when exposed to delays in the trajectory and communication faults it can represent a threat, compromising the safety, productivity and efficiency of these systems. Concerning this matter, trajectory planning algorithms allied with supervisory systems have been studied and developed. This article aims to, based on work developed previously, implement and test a Multi AGV Supervisory System on real robots and analyse how the system responds to the dynamic of a real environment, analysing its intervention, what influences it and how the execution time is affected.