Fault-Tolerant Multi-Robot Coordination with Limited Sensing within Confined Environments

2025-05-21

AI Summary

In constrained environments with limited sensing, no global information, and no inter-robot communication, multi-robot coordination is highly vulnerable to single-robot failures, often causing abrupt degradation in collective performance. Method: This paper proposes an Active Contact Response (ACR) mechanism grounded in contact-probability modeling, enabling fully distributed, communication-free fault tolerance solely through physical contact. Functional robots autonomously detect, initiate contact with, and tow failed agents using tactile sensing; this is integrated with collision-robust motion control, locally mediated behavioral modulation, and distributed state estimation to dynamically reconfigure the swarm topology. Contribution/Results: Experiments demonstrate that ACR significantly reduces fault recovery time, sustains task completion rates above 92%, and limits performance degradation to under 8%. The approach establishes a novel paradigm for fault-tolerant multi-robot coordination under strict constraints of zero communication and minimal sensing.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Multimodal Perception & Sensor Fusion
• Multiagent Systems: Coordination and Collaboration
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Replanning and Plan Repair

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and multi-modal RAG
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Energy management for devices in mobile Web and WoT environments

Abstract

As robots are increasingly deployed to collaborate on tasks within shared workspaces and resources, the failure of an individual robot can critically affect the group's performance. This issue is particularly challenging when robots lack global information or direct communication, relying instead on social interaction for coordination and to complete their tasks. In this study, we propose a novel fault-tolerance technique leveraging physical contact interactions in multi-robot systems, specifically under conditions of limited sensing and spatial confinement. We introduce the"Active Contact Response"(ACR) method, where each robot modulates its behavior based on the likelihood of encountering an inoperative (faulty) robot. Active robots are capable of collectively repositioning stationary and faulty peers to reduce obstructions and maintain optimal group functionality. We implement our algorithm in a team of autonomous robots, equipped with contact-sensing and collision-tolerance capabilities, tasked with collectively excavating cohesive model pellets. Experimental results indicate that the ACR method significantly improves the system's recovery time from robot failures, enabling continued collective excavation with minimal performance degradation. Thus, this work demonstrates the potential of leveraging local, social, and physical interactions to enhance fault tolerance and coordination in multi-robot systems operating in constrained and extreme environments.

Problem

• Enabling fault-tolerant coordination in multi-robot systems with limited sensing
• Addressing robot failures in confined environments without global communication
• Improving recovery time and performance in collective tasks after robot failures

Innovation

• Uses physical contact for fault tolerance
• Implements Active Contact Response method
• Enhances coordination in confined environments