A distributed algorithm for cooperative navigation among multiple mobile robots

The navigation capability of a group of robots can be improved by sensing o f relative inter-robot positions and intercommunication of position estimat es and planned trajectories. The cooperative navigation system (CNS) algori thm described here is based on a Kalman filter which uses inter-robot posit ion sensing to update the collective position estimates of the group. Assum ing independence of sensing and positioning errors, the CNS algorithm alway s improves individual robot estimates and the collective navigation perform ance improves as the number of robots increases. The CNS algorithm computat ion may be distributed among the robot group. Simulation results and experi mental measurements on two Yamabico robots are described.