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completed June 2025

Decentralised Mobile Manipulator

GPU-accelerated simulation framework for distributed auction-based task allocation in multi-robot systems

PythonMulti-RobotGPUSimulationTask Allocation

Overview

A comprehensive simulation framework exploring decentralised control architectures for collaborative mobile manipulators. This project investigates distributed auction-based algorithms for coordinating multiple robots in complex task allocation scenarios.

Problem Statement

As multi-robot systems scale, centralised control becomes a bottleneck. This research develops and validates decentralised approaches where robots autonomously negotiate and allocate tasks without global coordination.

Approach

  • Implemented distributed auction algorithms for task allocation
  • Developed GPU-accelerated simulation for large-scale robot teams
  • Created modular architecture for testing various coordination strategies
  • Validated performance across different scenario complexities

Key Features

  • GPU Acceleration: Leverages CUDA for parallel simulation of hundreds of robots
  • Auction-Based Allocation: Robots bid on tasks based on local cost estimation
  • Scalable Architecture: Performance tested from 2 to 100+ robot configurations
  • Modular Design: Easy to swap coordination algorithms and test scenarios

Technologies

  • Python
  • CUDA / GPU Computing
  • NumPy / SciPy
  • Matplotlib for visualisation

Results

Demonstrated significant improvements in task allocation efficiency compared to naive approaches, with near-linear scaling performance as robot count increases.