ABSTRACT
Contents 9.1 Specification-Induced Hierarchical Abstractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 9.2 Continuous Abstractions: Extracting the Essential Features
of a Swarm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 9.2.1 Examples of Continuous Abstractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
9.3 Discrete Abstractions: Accommodating Rich Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 9.4 Hierarchical Abstractions: Automatic Deployment of Swarms from
Human-Like Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 9.5 Limitations of the Approach and Directions for Future Work . . . . . . . . . . . 238 9.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Acknowledgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
In this chapter, we outline a hierarchical framework for planning and control of arbitrarily large groups (swarms) of robots. At the first level of hierarchy, we aggregate the high dimensional control system of the swarm into a small dimensional
control system capturing its essential features, such as position of the center, shape, orientation, and size. At the second level, we reduce the problem of controlling the essential features of the swarm to a model checking problem. In the obtained hierarchical framework, high-level specifications given in natural language such as linear temporal logic formulas over linear predicates in the essential features are automatically mapped to provably correct robot control laws. We present simulation results for the particular case of a continuous abstraction based on centroid and variance of a planar swarm made of fully actuated robots with polyhedral control constraints.
