1st Edition

Multiagent Robotic Systems

By Jiming Liu, Jianbing Wu Copyright 2001
328 Pages 100 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

328 Pages 100 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

Providing a guided tour of the pioneering work and major technical issues, Multiagent Robotic Systems addresses learning and adaptation in decentralized autonomous robots. Its systematic examination demonstrates the interrelationships between the autonomy of individual robots and the emerged global behavior properties of a group performing a cooperative task. The author also includes descriptions... Read more
MOTIVATION, APPROACHES, AND OUTSTANDING ISSUES

Why Multiple Robots?
Advantages
Major Themes
Agents and Multiagent Systems
Multiagent Robots

Towards Cooperative Control
Cooperation Related Research
Learning, Evolution, and Adaptation
Design of Multi-Robot Control

Approaches
Behavior-Based Robotics
Collective Robotics
Evolutionary Robotics
Inspiration from Biology and Sociology
Summary

Models and Techniques
Reinforcement Learning
Genetic Algorithms
Artificial Life
Artificial Immune System
Probabilistic Modeling
Related Work on Multi-Robot Planning and Coordination

Outstanding Issues
Self-Organization
Local vs. Global Performance
Planning
Multi-Robot learning
Co-Evolution
Emergent Behavior
Reactive vs. Symbolic Systems
Heterogeneous vs. Homogenous Systems
Simulated vs. Physical Robots
Dynamics of Multiagent Robotic Systems
Summary

CASE STUDIES IN LEARNING


Multiagent Reinforcement Learning: Techniques
Autonomous Group Robots
Multiagent Reinforcement Learning
Summary

Multiagent Reinforcement Learning Results
Measurements
Group Behaviors

Multiagent Reinforcement Learning: What Matters
Collective Sensing
Initial Spatial Distribution
Inverted Sigmoid Function
Behavior Selection mechanism
Motion Mechanism
Emerging a Periodic Motion
Macro-Stable but Micro-Unstable Properties
Dominant Behavior

Evolutionary Multiagent Reinforcement Learning
Robot Group Example
Evolving Group Motion Strategies
Examples
Summary

CASE STUDIES IN ADAPTATION

Coordinated Maneuvers in a Dual-Agent System
Issues
Dual-Agent Learning
Specialized Roles in a Dual-Agent System
The Basic Capabilities of the Robot Agent
The Rationale of the Advice-Giving Agent
Acquiring Complex Maneuvers
Summary

Collective Behavior
Group Behavior
The Approach
Collective Box-Pushing by Applying Repulsive Forces
Collective Box-Pushing by Exerting External Contact Forces and Torques
Convergence Analysis for the Fittest-Preserved Evolution
Summary

CASE STUDIES IN SELF-ORGANIZATION


Multiagent Self-Organization
Artificial Potential Field
Overview of Self-Organization
Self-Organization of a Potential Map
Experiment 1
Experiment 2
Discussions

Evolutionary Multiagent Self-Organization
Evolution of Cooperative Motion Strategies
Experiments
Discussions
Summary

AN EXPLORATION TOOL

Toolboxes for Multiagent Robotics
Overview
Toolbox for Multiagent Reinforcement Learning
Toolbox for Evolutionary Multiagent Reinforcement Learning
Toolboxes for Evolutionary Collective Behavior Implementation
Toolbox for Multiagent Self-Organization
Toolbox for Evolutionary Multiagent Self-Organization
Example

INDEX

Biography

Jiming Liu

"Liu and Wu describe the major developments and technical issues related to learning, adaptation, and self-organization in multiagent robotic systems … the list of references is comprehensive … A good resource for researchers on robotic systems, which may serve as a course resource for graduate students."
-CHOICE