CAREER: Probabilistic Methods for Multi-Robot Collaboration

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

The project addresses development of systems that interact autonomously with their environment in an intelligent way. Applications range from intelligent home environments to autonomous mobile robots to software agents. Over the recent years, the use of probabilistic methods has led to development of reliable mobile robot systems. However, despite tremendous potential benefits of collaboration between robots, some fundamental issues in the context of probabilistic methods for multi-robot collaboration remain unexplored. The goal of this project is to bridge the scientific gap between probabilistic methods for single-robot systems and those for collaborative multi-robot systems. The research is expected to have a strong impact on the area of collaborating mobile robots. On the education side, in order to teach the skills needed to understand and develop such complex systems, a new undergraduate course on mobile robotics will be designed, which will follow a hands-on approach to teaching, involving students in investigative work with mobile robots.