A Dynamic Territorial Robotic System

This paper outlines the implementation of an algorithm that divides a robot’s topological map into a series of territories. It partitions this map using an algorithm based on clustering behavior in ant colonies. To perform this partitioning, the algorithm requires a specific topological map of the environment; the vertices are important features of the environment, and each vertex is connected to all other vertices within its line-ofsight. This algorithm is implemented through a robotic system that can traverse an unknown environment, generate a topological map suitable for use by the algorithm, and then partition the space by moving from vertex to vertex. The robotic system uses a behaviour-based sys tem to navigate from vertex to vertex. The mapping system is topological, but uses some metric information on the distance between features and the shape of features to identify the feature currently visited by a robot. The robot and mapping systems have been tested on a real robot; it has implemented the territorial algorithm in a real environment in spite of uncertainty in sensing and odometry.