MRS-CWC: A Weakly Constrained Multi-Robot System with Controllable Constraint Stiffness for Mobility and Navigation in Unknown 3D Rough Environments

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Xiao, Runze, Wang, Yongdong, Tsunoda, Yusuke, Osuka, Koichi, Asama, Hajime
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866910875926921216
author Xiao, Runze
Wang, Yongdong
Tsunoda, Yusuke
Osuka, Koichi
Asama, Hajime
author_facet Xiao, Runze
Wang, Yongdong
Tsunoda, Yusuke
Osuka, Koichi
Asama, Hajime
contents Navigating unknown three-dimensional (3D) rugged environments is challenging for multi-robot systems. Traditional discrete systems struggle with rough terrain due to limited individual mobility, while modular systems--where rigid, controllable constraints link robot units--improve traversal but suffer from high control complexity and reduced flexibility. To address these limitations, we propose the Multi-Robot System with Controllable Weak Constraints (MRS-CWC), where robot units are connected by constraints with dynamically adjustable stiffness. This adaptive mechanism softens or stiffens in real-time during environmental interactions, ensuring a balance between flexibility and mobility. We formulate the system's dynamics and control model and evaluate MRS-CWC against six baseline methods and an ablation variant in a benchmark dataset with 100 different simulation terrains. Results show that MRS-CWC achieves the highest navigation completion rate and ranks second in success rate, efficiency, and energy cost in the highly rugged terrain group, outperforming all baseline methods without relying on environmental modeling, path planning, or complex control. Even where MRS-CWC ranks second, its performance is only slightly behind a more complex ablation variant with environmental modeling and path planning. Finally, we develop a physical prototype and validate its feasibility in a constructed rugged environment. For videos, simulation benchmarks, and code, please visit https://wyd0817.github.io/project-mrs-cwc/.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_11461
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle MRS-CWC: A Weakly Constrained Multi-Robot System with Controllable Constraint Stiffness for Mobility and Navigation in Unknown 3D Rough Environments
Xiao, Runze
Wang, Yongdong
Tsunoda, Yusuke
Osuka, Koichi
Asama, Hajime
Robotics
Multiagent Systems
Navigating unknown three-dimensional (3D) rugged environments is challenging for multi-robot systems. Traditional discrete systems struggle with rough terrain due to limited individual mobility, while modular systems--where rigid, controllable constraints link robot units--improve traversal but suffer from high control complexity and reduced flexibility. To address these limitations, we propose the Multi-Robot System with Controllable Weak Constraints (MRS-CWC), where robot units are connected by constraints with dynamically adjustable stiffness. This adaptive mechanism softens or stiffens in real-time during environmental interactions, ensuring a balance between flexibility and mobility. We formulate the system's dynamics and control model and evaluate MRS-CWC against six baseline methods and an ablation variant in a benchmark dataset with 100 different simulation terrains. Results show that MRS-CWC achieves the highest navigation completion rate and ranks second in success rate, efficiency, and energy cost in the highly rugged terrain group, outperforming all baseline methods without relying on environmental modeling, path planning, or complex control. Even where MRS-CWC ranks second, its performance is only slightly behind a more complex ablation variant with environmental modeling and path planning. Finally, we develop a physical prototype and validate its feasibility in a constructed rugged environment. For videos, simulation benchmarks, and code, please visit https://wyd0817.github.io/project-mrs-cwc/.
title MRS-CWC: A Weakly Constrained Multi-Robot System with Controllable Constraint Stiffness for Mobility and Navigation in Unknown 3D Rough Environments
topic Robotics
Multiagent Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.11461