Auction-Based Multi-Robot Routing

Abstract

Recently, auction methods have been investigated as effective, decentralized methods for multi-robot coordination. Experimental research has shown great potential, but has not been complemented yet by theoretical analysis. In this paper we contribute a theoretical analysis of the performance of auction methods for multi-robot routing. We suggest a generic framework for auction-based multi-robot routing and analyze a variety of bidding rules for different team objectives. This is the first time that auction methods are shown to offer theoretical guarantees for such a variety of bidding rules and team objectives.