UTS researchers made significant strides in developing and demonstrating multi-robot coordination algorithms, enabling autonomous systems to deliver critical insights to human teammates efficiently and with minimal oversight.
Real-World Applications: Defence and Beyond
The multi-robot system has significant potential in scenarios where human safety is paramount. While the project is closely tied to Australian Defence, its real-world applications extend to responding to natural and man-made disasters, such as fire, floodwaters, gas leaks, and rockfalls. These autonomous systems are designed to operate in hazardous environments, providing vital information to human teammates without the need for constant oversight. This technology could prove invaluable in high-risk scenarios, protecting human lives by identifying dangers before they occur.
Key Research Achievements
The project represents years of research into multi-robot coordination algorithms, culminating in a full-scale demonstration of the system in a challenging outdoor environment. Key outcomes include:
- Full scale demonstration of a multi-robot system: The system successfully completed a complex mission in an 800m x 400m forest, navigating diverse terrains and identifying potential hazards ahead of human teammates.
- Advances in multi-robot coordination: UTS researchers demonstrated groundbreaking coordination algorithms that enable robots to act autonomously, providing valuable information without overwhelming human operators.
- Future research opportunities: This project revealed several challenges for further research, such as scaling the number of robots, addressing more complex missions, and enhancing communication robustness in real-world applications.
Collaboration with Industry and Defence
The success of this project is due to collaboration between UTS, industry partners Mission Systems Pty Ltd (project lead), Trusted Autonomous Systems (TAS), AMSL Aero Pty Ltd, and Defence. The involvement of the Australian Army and DSTG personnel provided invaluable insights into operational requirements, allowing for technology demonstrations in real-world Defence scenarios. This collaboration highlights the importance of combining fundamental research with industry expertise to create impactful, scalable solutions.
Delivering a project like this requires a diverse skillset that extends beyond what’s typically found in a single organisation. We’ve brought together experts in robotics, autonomous systems, software engineering, and operational analysis to ensure that the system not only functions in challenging environments but also provides meaningful insights for human decision-makers.
Dr Graeme Best, Lead Researcher, UTS
Autonomous Systems Designed for Human Safety
What sets UTS’ multi-robot system apart from other autonomous systems is its ability to predict human behaviour and adapt to dynamic environments. The system decentralises decision-making, making it robust to communication failures and ensuring there’s no single point of failure. This ability to autonomously infer human intent and act without continuous input significantly reduces the cognitive load on human operators, allowing them to focus on higher-level decision-making.
Future Directions
The project has paved the way for future research into scaling up MRS capabilities, refining communication protocols, and expanding potential applications beyond Defence. As autonomous systems become more sophisticated, the lessons learned from this project will guide further advancements in multi-robot coordination and human-robot collaboration, with implications for industries ranging from disaster response to large-scale infrastructure inspection.
This project was recently awarded Best Paper Award at the IROS workshop on Real-World Challenges in Multi-Robot Cooperation. The International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) is one of the largest and most important robotics research conferences in the world, attracting researchers, academics, and industry professionals.
Research team: Edward Bray, Mason Brown, Ki Myung Brian Lee, Finn Linstrom, Adam Tan, Suryansh Sharma, Prof Robert Fitch, Dr. Felix H. Kong, Dr. Graeme Best, and the UTS Mechanical, Mechatronics and Robotics technical team, with the project lead Mission Systems Pty Ltd led by Aspen Eyers and David Johnson.