A Novel, RRT* Based Approach to the Coordination of Multiple Planetary Rovers

Swinton, S. and McGookin, E. (2022) A Novel, RRT* Based Approach to the Coordination of Multiple Planetary Rovers. In: 2022 UKACC 13th International Conference on Control (CONTROL), Plymouth, United Kingdom, 20-22 April 2022, pp. 88-93. ISBN 9781665452007 (doi: 10.1109/Control55989.2022.9781363)

Abstract

The use of multiple autonomous rovers could significantly extend the scientific capabilities of future planetary exploration missions. Central to this is the ability to safely coordinate the planned paths of such robots. Previous work has shown that RRT* is a method well suited to single-agent path planning. The aim of this work is to evaluate the use of a RRT* path planner first for a single planetary rover, then applied to different coordination strategies for a small team of rovers as a multi-agent method of path planning. Two centralised coordination methodologies are applied: fixed-path coordination and prioritised planning. An evaluation is carried out, based on a comparison of the number of collisions and the time taken to plan paths, where the prioritised planning coordination algorithm is selected as the most appropriate for this application. The results drawn from this work suggest that the combined use of prioritised planning and RRT* could be appropriate for use in the guidance, navigation and control systems of planetary rovers.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: McGookin, Dr Euan and Swinton, Sarah
• Authors: Swinton, S., and McGookin, E.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering; College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Autonomous Systems and Connectivity
• ISBN: 9781665452007
• Published Online: 27 May 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 IEEE
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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