Information reference set–up for the development of industrial multirobot systems

Multirobot co–operating systems are required to improve the efficiency of flexible manufacturing plant, enabling the fulfilment of complex tasks, with varying product mixes. The co–operation is possible, if a 'communicate/control/diagnose' manifold links each item of robotic equipment, thus providing visibility over the relevant process variables and making the functional capabilities transparent. The technical literature shows a growing interest in multirobot systems, even if most of the investigations are limited to the level of the co–ordination of independent jobs. The development of multirobot systems, co–operating for the fulfilment of complex tasks, needs an appropriate programming environment, that simulates the actual dynamics of each robotic arm and emulates the real behaviour of their combined control strategy. The paper presents a systematic discussion on this information reference set–up, with a survey of the literature and of a package (SIRI–MR), specifically implemented by the Industrial Robot Design Research Group of the University of Genoa (Italy) for the development of industrial multirobot systems.