Distributed Control Algorithms for a Team of Service Robots

A new generation of robots can operate autonomously in complex and partially unknown environments. The range of the missions that can be assigned to these machines is quickly expanding and so is their level of complexity. In this new scenario, it is generally recognised that the chances of success are significantly higher fo a mission when the robots in charge operate in teams. Hence, especially in mobile robotics, the design of distributed coordination strategies is of paramount importance in order to efficiently accomplish the desired task. The focus of this research is indeed the design of distributed control strategies for multi-robot coordination. In this thesis, we propose solutions for the problems of static coverage, dynamic coverage/persistent monitoring, connectivity maintenance, navigation, and rendezvous. For the navigation task, we propose an in-depth study o the case of navigation in human-shared environments.