Multirover Coordination Based on Contract Net Protocol

A computer program coordinates operations of multiple cooperating rovers (small exploratory robotic vehicles deployed from a lander spacecraft), each of which is equipped with computer hardware and software that schedule the tasks assigned to it. The program implements a contract net protocol — a type of coordination protocol commonly used in distributed artificial intelligence. In a contract net protocol, a manager announces a task to a set of contractors, each contractor bids for the task, and the manager awards the task to the contractor with the best bid. In the present program, the lander (manager) incrementally transmits tasks to each rover (contractor). Upon receiving a task, a rover tries to fit the task into its current schedule. If the rover can do so, it bids the total distance it would have to travel to complete all of its tasks (including the newly inserted one). Rovers that fail to fit the task into their schedules within a time limit do not participate in the auction. Upon receiving all bids, the lander awards the task to the rover with the smallest bid.