Multi-robot Planning Using Robot-Dependent Reachability Maps

In this paper we present a new concept of robot-dependent reachability map (RDReachMap) for mobile platforms. In heterogeneous multi-robot systems, the reachability limit of robots motion and actuation must be considered when assigning tasks to them. We created an algorithm that generates those reachability maps, separating regions that can be covered by a robot from the unreachable ones, using morphological operations. Our method is dependent on the robot position, and is parameterized with the robot’s size and actuation radius. For this purpose we introduce a new technique, the partial morphological closing operation. The algorithm was tested both in simulated and real environment maps. We also present a common problem of multi robot routing, which we solve with a planner that uses our reachability maps in order to generate valid plans. We contribute a heuristic that generates paths for two robots using the reachability concept.