Abstract

Maintaining continuous communication is an important factor that contributes to the success of multi-robot systems. Most research involving multi-robot teams is conducted in controlled laboratory settings, where continuous communication is assumed, typically because there is a wireless network (wifi) that keeps all the robots connected. But for multi-robot teams to operate successfully “in the wild”, it is crucial to consider how communication can be maintained when signals fail or robots move out of range. This paper presents a novel “leader-follower behaviour” with dynamic role switching and messaging that supports uninterrupted communication, regardless of network perturbations. A series of experiments were conducted in which it is shown how network perturbations effect performance, comparing a baseline with the new leaderfollower behaviour. The experiments record metrics on team success, given the two conditions. These results are significant for real-world multi-robot systems applications that require continuous communication amongst team members.