Realization of a Multiple Object Rearrangement Task with Two Multi-Task Functional Robots

A rearrangement task of multiple objects is discussed here. In this paper, robots that carry more than one object simultaneously are referred to as multi-task functional, whereas a standard single-task robot carries one object at a time. With multi-task functional robots, the total length of transfer paths is shortened and the processing time is reduced. We propose a planning algorithm that consists of simulated annealing and a scheduling method using prioritization rules for a group of multi-task functional robots. We also propose a planning methodology on synchronization timing between the robots. Experiments involving two robots were conducted in real and simulated environments to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.