Multi-robot navigation with limited communication - Deterministic vs game-theoretic networks

This paper presents a novel approach to the navigation of dynamically communicating robots via a bidirectional interaction model between the robot network and the continuous states. First, the robot dynamics is formulated as being dependent on the communication network where two robots - if in communication - can access each other's position and goal information. Next, three alternative strategies for establishing the communication network depending on the robots' states are presented: deterministic, game-theoretic and mixed approaches. In the first approach, the network is defined deterministically based on the robots' states and the communication range. The game-theoretic network formation is based on utilizing the conflict between the communication gain and cost. The mixed approach integrates features from deterministic and gametheoretic approaches. An extensive statistical study investigates comparative performance characteristics for exploration, zone and procession type goals.