Architectures and Control of Networked Robotic Systems

Networked robot systems are ensembles of robots that enhance their individual capabilities by sharing perception, computation and actuation capabilities with each other to solve problems that an individual robot could not solve alone. In this chapter, we focus on architectures and control of autonomous networked robot systems that communicate wirelessly. We will first provide an overview over current networked robot platforms spanning 3 orders of magnitude in size (from millimeter to meters in size), operation on the ground, in the air and under water, and that are networked using light, sound and radio. We will then describe classes of algorithms and their analysis used for coordination of teams of robots focusing on reactive and deliberative algorithms for sharing perception, computation, and actuation. The chapter is concluded with a summary of current challenges and promising directions.