Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems 5

Citation

Rigelsford, J. (2003), "Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems 5", Industrial Robot, Vol. 30 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2003.04930dae.001

Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems 5

Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems 5

H. Asama, T. Arai, T. Fukuda and T. Hasegawn (Eds)Springer2002484 pp.ISBN 4-431-70339-X£104.50

Keywords: Robotics

This book presents 46 technical papers presented at the sixth International Symposium on Distributed Antennas Robotic Systems, held in June 2002, in Fukuotea, Japan.

After an introduction providing a "Perspective of Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems", chapter 2 presents four papers discussing Modular Robotic Systems. These include "Navigating Modular Robots in the Face of Heuristic Depression" and "Distributed Replication Algorithms for Self-Reconfiguring Modular Robots". Chapter 3, Communication Cooperation addresses topics including a "Communication Mechanism in a Distributed System of Mobile Robots", "A Geometric Arbiter Selection Algorithm on Infrared Wireless Inter-Robot Communication" and "Communication by Datagram Circulation Among Multiple Autonomous Soccer Robots".

"A Scalable Command and Control System for Human-Machine Work Systems", "Cooperative Motion Coordination Amidst Dynamic Obstacles" and "Coordinated Transportation of a Single Object by a Group of Nonholonomic Mobile Robots" are amongst the papers presented in chapter 4, "Human-Machine Cooperative Interaction" and chapter 5, "Multi-Robot Coordination".

Chapter 6 addresses Robot Soccer, while Distributed Control is discussed in chapter 7. Topics presented include "Cooperating Cleaning Robots", "On-Line Collision Avoidance of Mobile Robot for Dynamically Moving Obstacles" and "Distributed Multi Robot Reactive Navigation". "Omnidirectional Distributed Vision for Multi-Robot Mapping" and "Map Acquisition in Multi-Robot Systems based on Time Shared Scheduling" are amongst the papers presented in chapter 8, Distributed Sensing and Mapping.

The following two chapters discuss Multi-Agent and Group Systems and Multi-Robot Motion Planning, respectively. Topics discussed included "Graduated Spatial Pattern Formation of Micro Robot Group", "Heuristic Approach of a Distributed Autonomous Guidance System to Adapt to the Dynamic Environment" and "Spreading Out: A Local Approach to Multi-Robot Coverage".

"Neural Control of Quadruped Robot for Autonomous Walking on Soft Terrain" and "Real-Time Control of Walking of Insect; Self-Organization of the Constraints and Walking Patterns" are amongst the five papers presented in chapter 11, Emergence in Mobility. The final chapter of the book discusses Learning in Distributed Robotic Systems.

Although this book provides broad coverage of the technical issues related to distributed autonomous robotic systems, it falls short of its claim being an invaluable resource for researches and students. Unfortunately many of the papers included in the book do not do themselves justice and may be a result of the fact that a significant number of the authors, including the editors, have multiple contributions.