Abstract
Among the many challenges robots encounter in the mining industry, exploring confined environments receives significant attention. This work tackles problems associated with robot communication in hazardous and confined environments, where its cluttered and extensive nature frequently precludes traditional cable-based and wireless solutions. Our methods resort to off-the-shelf long-range radio frequencies to profile the signal propagation behaviour over the geometrical map to assist navigation algorithms that seek to preserve the connection. We consider mathematical models to predict signal power behaviour and serve as input to path planning. We also propose a semi-autonomous leader-follower scheme, with signal repeater units forming a mobile wireless network to enable inspection in hard-to-reach locations. Finally, we present a multi-robot connection-aware system, combining path planning based on radio signal power with multiple robot navigation. Results show the applicability of the proposed solutions, generating single and multi-robot paths for optimal signal reception based on power estimation, thus enabling operations in remote and isolated areas with no line-of-sight between the command base and the robotic inspection device. Experiments conducted in long corridors and in a representative mining environment using the EspeleoRobô and Pioneer platforms demonstrate significant improvements over the traditional communication methods for robotic operation regarding communication quality and inspection range limits.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Instituto Tecnológico Vale (ITV), Vale S.A., Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) and Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP). This work was also supported in part by the Brazilian agencies Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel - Brazil (CAPES) through the Academic Excellence Program (PROEX)- Finance Code 001, under the grants FAPEMIG (Minas Gerais State Research Foundation) - APQ-02228-22, and APQ-00630-23, CNPq (Brazilian National Research Council) - 306423/2020-0, 309925/2023-1, 407063/2021-8, 310941/2023-7, and 303544/2023-6, and project INCT (National Institute of Science and Technology) under the grant CNPq 465755/2014-3 and FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation) 2014/50851-0.
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Instituto Tecnológico Vale (ITV); Vale S.A.; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG); Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES); Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientíıfico e Tecnológico (CNPq).
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General work conduction: André Cid and Gustavo Freitas; Conceptualization: Gustavo Pessin, Jacó Domingues, Luiz Barros, André Cid and Hector Azpúrua; Signal modeling: André Cid, Sofia Campos and Arthur Vangasse; Path planning: André Cid, Hector Azpúrua and Gustavo Freitas; Online SLAM: Gilmar Cruz Júnior and André Cid; Multiple robots setup: Sofia Campos, Arthur Vangasse, Gilmar Cruz Júnior, André Cid and Gustavo Freitas; Experimental methodology: André Cid, Mário Delunardo, Sofia Campos, Nilton Neto, Gilmar Cruz Júnior and Gustavo Freitas; Conceived images and graphics: André Cid, Arthur Vangasse, Gilmar Cruz Júnior, Sofia Campos and Mário Delunardo; Work supervision: Gustavo Freitas, Gustavo Pessin, Hector Azpúrua, Luiz Barros, Jacó Domingues and Luciano Pimenta; All authors wrote and reviewed the manuscript.
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Cid, A., Vangasse, A., Campos, S. et al. Wireless Communication-aware Path Planning and Multiple Robot Navigation Strategies for Assisted Inspections. J Intell Robot Syst 110, 88 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-024-02112-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-024-02112-4