Swarms can be rational

Yinon Douchan, Ran Wolf, Gal A. Kaminka

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

A fundamental challenge in multi-robot systems is spatial coordination (avoiding collisions) between robots, each under its own control. Swarm methods, where by robots coordinate ad-hoc and locally, offer a promising approach. However, while empirically demonstrated to be viable in practice, no guarantees of performance are known. This paper formalizes a class of multi-robot cooperative tasks as differential extensive-form games. We show that the system coordination overhead is a differential function, forming a connection between the theoretical maximum-payoff equilibrium of the system, and the rational self-interested choices of individual robots during task execution: robot swarms can be rational in theory. We then show how to approximate the rational decision-making in practice using reinforcement learning, using internal measures for rewards. We empirically show this leads to consistent optimal performance in with physical and simulated robots.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication18th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, AAMAS 2019
PublisherInternational Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (IFAAMAS)
Pages149-157
Number of pages9
ISBN (Electronic)9781510892002
StatePublished - 2019
Event18th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, AAMAS 2019 - Montreal, Canada
Duration: 13 May 201917 May 2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.5555/3306127

Publication series

NameProceedings of the International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, AAMAS
Volume1
ISSN (Print)1548-8403
ISSN (Electronic)1558-2914

Conference

Conference18th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, AAMAS 2019
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityMontreal
Period13/05/1917/05/19
Internet address

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (IFAAMAS). All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Game-theory
  • Multi-robot systems
  • Swarm

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