Multi-Robot Task Planning with Space-Time Constraints for Coordination Tasks

Optimization Programming Language (OPL) model for MILP formulation of Multi-Robot Task Planning problem.

Problem Statement

Consider a homogeneous swarm of R robots, which need to perform a set of tasks T in an known environment with C as starting point. Each task is characterized by it’s location, activation window, execution time andrequired team size; which are accounted by the following attributes:

1. Static: having a fixed location.
2. Active dynamically: meaning the tasks have to be performed in the fixed activation window.
3. Task Duration: time required to execute/perform the task.
4. Quota: the number of robots in the team, necessary to finish the task.

Problem(Task Planning).Given the starting position of robots and the locations of the tasks in the environment,the objective is to find an optimal schedule for the robots to perform all the tasks by fulfilling the quota, within the activation window, while minimizing the makespan

Pre-requisite

Install IBM CPLEX Optimization Studio (Free for students)

Installation & Usage

Clone/download the repository.

MATLAB

After installing the CPLEX Optimization Studio, it needs to be configured in the MATLAB environment. Add these paths using the Set Path tab in the MATLAB Search Paths list:

  /<yourpath>/ILOG/CPLEX_Studio128/cplex/matlab
  /<yourpath>/ILOG/CPLEX_Studio128/cplex/matlab/x86-64_linux
  /<yourpath>/ILOG/CPLEX_Studio128/cplex/matlab/x86-64_linux/help
  /<yourpath>/ILOG/CPLEX_Studio128/cplex/matlab/x86-64_linux/help/helpsearch-v2
  /<yourpath>/ILOG/CPLEX_Studio128/cplex/matlab/x86-64_linux/help/topics

For more info on using CPLEX in MATLAB: Link

CPLEX IDE

Getting Started

Create a new project and use the .mod and .dat files in the repository as the OPL Model and Data files, respectively, for the project. Add these two files into a 'New Run Configuration' and select 'Run this' from the drop down menu.