KR20130068603A

KR20130068603A - Method for assigning roles to multi robot

Info

Publication number: KR20130068603A
Application number: KR1020110135893A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 전서현; 조영조; 장민수; 이대하; 김재홍; 손주찬
Original assignee: 한국전자통신연구원
Priority date: 2011-12-15
Filing date: 2011-12-15
Publication date: 2013-06-26

Abstract

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for assigning a role of a cluster robot, the method comprising: performing a specific role by a first robot, which is at least one of the robots constituting the cluster robot, or attempting to perform a specific role by the first robot; If it is determined that the first robot cannot perform the role, allocating the second robot to at least one of the robots forming the cluster robot; And performing the role by the second robot.

Description

Method for assigning roles to multi robot}

The present invention relates to a multi robot technology, and more particularly, to a method for assigning a role to a group robot.

In order for robots to work smoothly in complex environments, they must have the same intelligence and autonomy as humans. In order to give these autonomous powers to robots, large scale processing power is required along with sophisticated sensors and precise controllers, and robots are expensive. In addition, when the work needs to be performed in a large area, the work efficiency of the robot is inevitably reduced.

It is well known that using a robot consisting of several robots to make up for this weakness is much more efficient and stable. In particular, construction, defense security, etc. are representative fields that can increase work efficiency by using cluster robots.

When a plurality of robots are initially set to perform only a role inputted, an abnormal situation may occur and one or more robots may not play a specific role. In such a case, the robot will perform the mission without the role of the robot and the overall mission completion will be reduced.

1 shows an example of such a situation, in which the situation occurs while the cluster robot is performing a surveillance boundary task in a space. If an intruder is found in the example of FIG. 1, the cluster robot must surround the intruder. To do this, a robot that first discovers an intruder or recognizes an intruder correctly conveys the location of the intruder to other robots, commands the siege to surround the intruder, and keeps track of the intruder. Referring to FIG. 1A, the robot A recognizes an intruder and issues a siege command. The rest of the robots do not capture the front of the intruder, or they are not aware of the intruder precisely due to the effects of lighting. Referring to FIG. 1B, the robots B, C, D, and E receive an intruder position information or an invader envelopment command from the robot A, and in response, surround the intruder. Robot A continues to track intruders and update location information or siege commands. However, when the intruder obscures the view of the robot A or disappears from the view of the robot A as shown in FIG. 1 (c), the robot A can no longer perform its role, and other robots that cannot confirm the position of the intruder are more. The intruder can no longer be properly surrounded. Thus, as shown in Figure 1 (d), the cluster robot misses the intruder.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention, if any one of a number of robots constituting the cluster robot can not play a role, other robots can perform the role to improve the task completion of the cluster robot, cluster robot To provide a way to assign roles.

In order to solve the above technical problem, in the method of assigning a role of a cluster robot according to the present invention, at least one of the robots constituting the cluster robot performs a specific role or the first robot attempts to perform a specific role. Doing; If it is determined that the first robot cannot perform the role, allocating the second robot to at least one of the robots forming the cluster robot; And performing the role by the second robot.

The assigning may include: transmitting, by the first robot, information indicating that the role of the cluster robot is impossible to perform, and information about the role; And determining, by the robots receiving the information from the first robots, at least one robot to perform the role.

The assigning may include transmitting information indicating that the first robot cannot perform the role and information about the role to a server; Determining, by the server receiving the information, at least one robot that performs the role among the robots forming the cluster robot; And transmitting, by the server, information about the role to the determined robot.

The role may include at least one of tracking a target, transmitting a position of the target, or transmitting an enclosing command of the target.

The assigning may include: transmitting, by the first robot, information about the role including information indicating that the role of the cluster robot is impossible to perform, and location information of the target; And determining, by the robots receiving the information from the first robots, at least one robot to play the role, wherein the second robot performing the role is based on the position information. It can play the role.

The assigning may include: transmitting, to the server, information about the role including information indicating that the first robot cannot perform the role and location information of the target; Determining, by the server receiving the information, at least one robot that performs the role among the robots forming the cluster robot; And transmitting, by the server, information about the role to the determined robot, and the second robot performing the role may perform the role based on the location information.

According to the present invention described above, when any one of the plurality of robots constituting the cluster robot can not play a role, the other robot can perform the role to improve the task completion of the cluster robot.

FIG. 1 illustrates a situation in which a robot cannot perform a specific role while a cluster robot performs a surveillance boundary task in a space.
2 is a flowchart illustrating a role assignment method of a cluster robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a detailed flowchart of step 240 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a detailed flowchart of step 240 according to another embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a role assignment method of a cluster robot according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a reference diagram to help explain the exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 5.
7 is a flowchart illustrating a role assignment method of a cluster robot according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description and the accompanying drawings, substantially the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a role assignment method of a cluster robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The first robot, which is one of the robots constituting the cluster robot, performs a specific role or attempts to perform a specific role (step 210). However, there may be one or more robots performing or attempting a role.

If it is possible for the first robot to play a role, it continues to play a role (step 230). However, if it is determined that it is impossible for the first robot to perform a role, the performance of the role is allocated to a second robot, which is one of the robots forming the cluster robot, in operation 240. However, there may be one or more other robots to which role performance is assigned.

In operation 240, the second robot assigned to perform the role performs the corresponding role (250).

3 is a detailed flowchart of step 240 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment corresponds to the case where the cluster robot itself performs the function of assigning a role to the cluster robot.

If it is determined that the first robot cannot perform the role, the first robot transmits information indicating that the role cannot be performed to other robots and information on the corresponding role (step 310). Here, the information on the role may include information indicating what the role is and information obtained as a result of performing the role to date.

Receiving information from the first robot, the robot determines a robot to perform a corresponding role among them (step 320). Here, the determination of the robot to play a role may be determined in various ways depending on the role. For example, if any robot may play a role, any robot among the robots that receive the information may be determined as the robot to play the role. If a specific function is required to perform the role, any robot among the robots having the function may be determined as the robot to play the role. In addition, among the robots receiving the information, the robot may be determined to be the most suitable robot to perform the corresponding role according to a predetermined standard. The robots that receive the information can communicate with each other for this determination and negotiate according to a predetermined algorithm.

Referring back to FIG. 2, in step 250, a second robot assigned to perform a role performs a corresponding role by referring to information received from the first robot.

4 is a detailed flowchart of step 240 according to another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment corresponds to a case where a separate server (not shown) in charge of controlling the cluster robot performs a function of assigning a role to the cluster robot.

If it is determined that the first robot cannot perform the role, the first robot transmits information indicating that the role cannot be performed and information on the corresponding role (step 410). Here, the information on the role may include information indicating what the role is and information obtained as a result of performing the role to date.

The server receiving the information from the first robot determines a robot to perform a corresponding role among the robots constituting the cluster robot (step 420). In this embodiment, the robots continuously communicate with the server, and the server has information about the location, role, function, etc. of each robot. The determination of the robot to play a role may be determined in various ways depending on the role. For example, if any robot may play a role, any robot except the first robot among the robots constituting the cluster robot may be determined as a robot to play a role. If a specific function is required to perform the role, any robot among the robots having the function may be determined as the robot to play the role. In addition, among the robots constituting the cluster robot, it may be determined to be the most suitable robot to perform the corresponding role according to a predetermined standard.

When the robot to play the role is determined, the server transmits the information about the role received from the first robot to the determined robot (step 430).

Referring back to FIG. 2, in step 250, the second robot that has received the information about the role from the server performs the corresponding role by referring to the information received from the server.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a role assignment method of a cluster robot according to another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment corresponds to the case where the mission of the cluster robot is a surveillance boundary mission in a certain space, and also when the cluster robot itself performs a function of assigning a role to the cluster robot. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG. 6 to help explain the present embodiment.

First, a first robot, which is one of the robots constituting the cluster robot, recognizes a specific target in a given space (step 510). In this embodiment, the target is assumed to be an intruder. Here, since the first robot recognizes the intruder, the role of the first robot may be an intruder surrounding command transmission, intruder location information transmission, intruder tracking, etc. to other robots. Of course, the first robot may play only some of these roles.

Recognizing the intruder, the first robot transmits the invader siege command to other robots and transmits the location information of the intruder (step 520). Referring to FIG. 6A, the robot A transmits an intruder siege command to the robots B, C, D, and E, and transmits the intruder's position information (x0, y0). As a result, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), robot A and robots B, C, D, and E surround the intruder. Robot A now keeps track of intruders, updates robot location information, and delivers it to other robots.

If it is possible for the first robot to perform intruder tracking, the first robot continues to play a role (step 540). However, the intruder may obscure the robot's field of view, move quickly elsewhere to circumvent the robot's tracking, or it may become impossible to play a role due to a fault inside the robot. If it is determined that the first robot cannot perform the intruder tracking as described above, the first robot transmits information indicating that the role cannot be performed to other robots and information on the corresponding role (step 550). The information on the role includes information indicating that the role to be performed is the tracking and transmission of location information of the intruder, and the location information of the intruder most recently obtained. Referring to FIG. 6C, when the intruder obstructs the field of view of the robot A with a black cloth, the robot A can no longer perform a role of tracking the intruder and updating location information. Therefore, as shown in (d) of FIG. 6, the robot A transmits information indicating that intruder tracking is impossible and role information including the most recently obtained intruder position information (x0 ', y0') to other robots.

In operation 550, the robots, which have received role inability information and role information from the first robot, determine a robot to perform a role of tracking an intruder and transmitting location information (step 560). Here, any robot except the first robot among the robots constituting the cluster robot may be determined as a robot to play a role. Alternatively, the robot in the position closest to the position of the intruder may be determined as a robot to play a role, with reference to the position information of the intruder obtained from the first robot. Alternatively, when there is another robot that recognizes an intruder besides the first robot, the robot may be determined as a robot to play a role. If there is more than one robot that recognizes the intruder, a robot that recognizes the intruder more accurately or a robot closer to the intruder may be determined as a robot to play a role.

When the robot to play the role is determined, the robot performs the role of tracking and transmitting location information of the intruder by referring to the information received from the first robot (step 570). Here, if the robot to play a role correctly recognizes the intruder, the intruder can be tracked based on the recognition result. If the robot to play the role does not recognize the intruder correctly and only acquires the past location information of the intruder from the first robot, the location of the intruder is based on the acquired location information and the image obtained through the camera. You can then estimate the intruder.

Referring to FIG. 6E, the robots B, C, D, and E receive role impossible information and role information from the robot A, and determine B as a robot to perform the role that the robot A performed. The robot B then tracks the intruder based on the information received from the robot A, and obtains the intruder's position information (x1, y1). Robot B sends the intruder's location information (x1, y1) to other robots and instructs him to surround the intruder again. Referring to FIG. 6F, the robots C, D, and E, which have received the intruder's position information from the robot B and the robot B, move based on the intruder's position information and surround the intruder again.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a role assignment method for a cluster robot according to another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment corresponds to a case where the mission of a cluster robot is a surveillance boundary mission in a space, and when a separate server (not shown) in charge of controlling the cluster robot performs a function of assigning a role to the cluster robot. Corresponding.

First, a first robot, which is one of the robots constituting the cluster robot, recognizes a specific target in a given space (step 710). In this embodiment, the target is assumed to be an intruder. Here, since the first robot recognizes the intruder, the role of the first robot may be an intruder surrounding command transmission, intruder location information transmission, intruder tracking, etc. to other robots. Of course, the first robot may play only some of these roles.

Recognizing the intruder, the first robot transmits the invader siege command to other robots and transmits the location information of the intruder (step 720).

If it is possible for the first robot to perform intruder tracking, the robot continues to play a role (step 740). However, the intruder may obscure the robot's field of view, move quickly elsewhere to circumvent the robot's tracking, or it may become impossible to play a role due to a fault inside the robot. If it is determined that the first robot cannot perform the intruder tracking as described above, the first robot transmits information indicating that the role cannot be performed and information on the role (step 750). The information on the role includes information indicating that the role to be performed is the tracking and transmission of location information of the intruder, and the location information of the intruder most recently obtained.

In operation 750, the server, which has received the role impossible information and the role information from the first robot, determines the robot to perform the role of tracking the intruder and transmitting location information (step 760). Here, any robot except the first robot among the robots constituting the cluster robot may be determined as a robot to play a role. Alternatively, the robot in the position closest to the position of the intruder may be determined as a robot to play a role, with reference to the position information of the intruder obtained from the first robot. Alternatively, based on the information obtained through communication with the cluster robot, if there is another robot that recognizes the intruder besides the first robot, the robot may be determined as a robot to play a role. If there is more than one robot that recognizes the intruder, a robot that recognizes the intruder more accurately or a robot closer to the intruder may be determined as a robot to play a role.

When the robot to play the role is determined, the server transmits information about the role to the robot (step 770). The robot receiving the information from the server refers to this information and performs the role of tracking the intruder and transmitting location information (step 780). Here, if the robot to play a role correctly recognizes the intruder, the intruder can be tracked based on the recognition result. If the robot to play the role does not recognize the intruder correctly and only acquires the past location information of the intruder from the first robot, the location of the intruder is based on the acquired location information and the image obtained through the camera. You can then estimate the intruder.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention can be embodied in a general-purpose digital computer that can be embodied as a program that can be executed by a computer and operates the program using a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes a storage medium such as a magnetic storage medium (e.g., ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, etc.), optical reading medium (e.g., CD ROM,

So far I looked at the center of the preferred embodiment for the present invention. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope of equivalents thereof should be construed as being included in the present invention.

Claims

In the role assignment method of the cluster robot,
A first robot, which is at least one of the robots constituting the cluster robot, plays a specific role or the first robot attempts to play a specific role;
If it is determined that the role of the first robot is impossible, allocating the specific role to a second robot, which is at least one of the robots forming the cluster robot; And
And a role of the second robot to perform the role.