Experimental study on the effects of communication on cooperative search in complex environments

Abstract

In this study we investigate the benefits of networked communication by experimentally evaluating the results of two search algorithms, which are spiral search and informed random search. Both simulations and real experiments are performed in order to obtain objective results. The robotic experiments were performed in an experimental area containing obstacles where the communication ranges were "simulated" with the help of an overhead camera. Each robot was allowed to keep an occupancy grid based local map of the environment also containing information about the cells it has visited and to exchange this information with the other robots within its communication range. The effect of the size of communication range on the performance of the system defined as the time of completion the search task (i.e. locating the target) was investigated.