Path Negotiation for Self-interested Multirobot Vehicles in Shared Space

Hiroaki Inotsume, Aayush Aggarwal, Ryota Higa, Shinji Nakadai

Abstract: This paper addresses the problem of path negotiation among self-interested multirobot operators in shared space. In conventional multirobot path planning problems, most of the research thus far has focused on the coordination and planning of collision-free paths for multiple robots with some common objectives. On the contrary, the recent progress of technologies in autonomous vehicles, including automated guidance vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and manned autonomous cars, has increased demand for solving coordination and conflict avoidance in these autonomous and self-interested agents that pursue their own objectives. In this research, we tackle this problem from the operator perspective. We assume a problem setting where collisions between robots are avoided based on path reservation and negotiation. Under that circumstance, we propose a task-oriented utility function and a path negotiation algorithm for robot operators to maximize their task utility during path negotiation. The simulation and experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness of our task-based negotiation method over a simple path-based negotiation approach.