The GRITSBot in its Natural Habitat - A Multi-Robot Testbed

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Date
2015-05Author
Pickem, Daniel
Lee, Myron
Egerstedt, Magnus B.
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Show full item recordAbstract
Current multi-agent robotic testbeds are prohibitively
expensive or highly specialized and as such their use
is limited to a small number of research laboratories. Given
the high price tag, what is needed to scale multi-agent testbeds
down both in price and size to make them accessible to a larger
community? One answer is the GRITSBot, an inexpensive
differential drive microrobot designed specifically to lower the
entrance barrier to multi-agent robotics. The robot allows for a
straightforward transition from current ground-based systems
to the GRITSBot testbed because it closely resembles expensive
platforms in capabilities and architecture. Additionally, the
GRITSBot’s support system allows a single user to easily
operate and maintain a large collective of robots. These features
include automatic sensor calibration, autonomous recharging,
wireless reprogramming of the robot, as well as collective
control.