Sample gathering problem for different robots with limited capacity
Marius Kloetzer, Cristian Mahulea, Adrian Burlacu · 2016
In this paper we consider the problem of using mobile robots to collect a set of samples that are arbitrarily distributed in the environment. The robots are not necessarily identical and each one has a finite capacity, being able to transport only a given number of samples at each time. Furthermore, the number of transporting routes for robots can be also upper bounded. The problem is addressed in this paper by using a mathematical programming approach, namely developing a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP). The solution provides the optimal assignment of robots to samples, with respect to gathering all samples in a storage area in minimum time. The method is supported through simulation examples implemented in Matlab by using the CPLEX MILP solver.