Further Advances in Cooperative Transport by Mobile Robots

Hardware and decentralized-control algorithms have been developed during continued research on the sensors, the actuators, and the design and functional requirements for systems of multiple mobile robots cooperating in the performance of tightly coupled tasks — for example, grasping and lifting long objects on challenging terrain. [Different aspects of the hardware and algorithms were described in “Advances in Cooperative Transport by Two Mobile Robots” (NPO-30376) NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 26, No. 8 (August 2002), page 60. Although this research is oriented toward developing robotic capabilities for exploration of Mars, these capabilities could also be utilized on Earth.