Game Theory-based Multi-robot Coordination

After the more than half century development, Robotics technology and research come into a new age. The application field of robotics has covered manufacturing, aeronautics, military application, nuclear industry and medical service etc. Along with the application field extension, the single robot's limit emerges, and the Multi-robot System (MRS) begins attracting more and more attention. Compared with single robot system, MRS has the advantage of flexibility, efficiency and robustness. Now, the research about multi-robot system has become a new direction. This thesis focuses on how the robots in such system cooperate with each other to accomplish task.Firstly, the thesis will introduce the MRA's characteristics; main research fields and the current development of multi-robot research are concluded.Secondly, we set forth some basic notions of game theory and stochastic theory, build a formalized model of multi-agent system in frame game theory, give some brief ways to introduce these theories into the research of multi-agent system.Thirdly, we proposed a decentralized cooperative controller for a group of mobile robots. The control design is based on the potential function formalism. The aim of the group control law is to generate a formation in a given workspace while avoiding obstacles and collisions. The desired goal is specified in terms of distance among the robots. Some simulations are shown to test the strategy.Fourthly, we consider group robots pursuit-evasion problem as a dispersed dynamic game problem with two players. The utility function is constructed with the distance influence and effective encirclement influence. The payoff matrix of the pursuer is got by considering different strategies. The optimal strategy for each movement is obtained by resolving the payoff matrix. Simulation experiment results show the feasibility of the model and algorithm.Finally, the obtained results are summarized as the conclusion of the thesis, and the topics for further research are also addressed.