Communicating Cooperative Robots with Bluetooth

A generic architecture for system of cooperating communicating mobile robots is presented. An overall structure is defined from a modularity viewpoint, where a number of generic modules are identified; low level communication interface, network layer services such as initial and adaptive network structuring, routing and capacity management, overall behaviour which includes commitment to overall strategies as well as local behaviour like trajectory planning and navigation. Focus is kept on communication aspects and an example application of establishing a reliable wireless real-time communication backbone is presented. Initial and online adaptive network structuring strategies are discussed viewed from efficiency and robustness properties as well as their projection onto the Bluetooth protocol. Ad-hoc routing algorithms are evaluated w.r.t. feasibility in a quasi stationary network structure under varying traffic demands. A novel capacity based on-demand routing algorithm is deviced to achieve general Quality of Service provision in an ad-hoc Bluetooth scatternet. A novel paradigm of coordinated behaviour for providing network connectivity under mobility is presented.