Scalable decentralized multi-robot trajectory optimization in continuous-time

Abstract

This article presents a decentralized algorithm that generates continuous-time trajectory online for a swarm of robots based upon model predictive control. To generate collision-free trajectory, temporally distinct safe regions are formed such that the robots are confined to move within these safe regions to avoid collisions with one another. The distinct safe regions are temporally linked by generating a B-spline. Additionally, to ensure that collisions are avoided, collision-regions that the robots have to stay outside are also generated distinctly. A non linear program (NLP) with an objective to make the robots stay outside the collision-regions and stay within the safe regions is formulated. The algorithm was tested in simulations on Gazebo with aerial robots. The simulated results suggest that the proposed algorithm is computationally efficient and can be used for online planning in moderate sized multi-robot systems.