End-to-end decentralized formation control using a graph neural network-based learning method

Chao Jiang, Xinchi Huang, Yi Guo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Multi-robot cooperative control has been extensively studied using model-based distributed control methods. However, such control methods rely on sensing and perception modules in a sequential pipeline design, and the separation of perception and controls may cause processing latencies and compounding errors that affect control performance. End-to-end learning overcomes this limitation by implementing direct learning from onboard sensing data, with control commands output to the robots. Challenges exist in end-to-end learning for multi-robot cooperative control, and previous results are not scalable. We propose in this article a novel decentralized cooperative control method for multi-robot formations using deep neural networks, in which inter-robot communication is modeled by a graph neural network (GNN). Our method takes LiDAR sensor data as input, and the control policy is learned from demonstrations that are provided by an expert controller for decentralized formation control. Although it is trained with a fixed number of robots, the learned control policy is scalable. Evaluation in a robot simulator demonstrates the triangular formation behavior of multi-robot teams of different sizes under the learned control policy.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1285412
JournalFrontiers Robotics AI
Volume10
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023

Keywords

  • autonomous robots
  • distributed multi-robot control
  • formation control and coordination
  • graph neural network
  • multi-robot learning

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'End-to-end decentralized formation control using a graph neural network-based learning method'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this