Periodic Reporting for period 2 - gAIa (Scalable Co-optimization of Collective Robotic Mobility and the Artificial Environment)
Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2023-12-31
We have formalized the environment optimization problem for multi-agent navigation. Our first paper provides the conditions and proofs under which we can guarantee completeness of agent pathfinding. We show how environment optimization indeed provides significant benefits to the team, under a small cost. A follow-up journal paper, extends this theory to prioritized and constrained robots. The results are again backed up by theory that details the conditions under which priorities and path completeness will be met.
We have provided a formal problem statement for the co-optimization problem, and developed a hybrid learning-optimization approach to solving it. We demonstrate results on agent teams with limited communication, and show the value of joint policy-environment optimization. In our results, we show that counterintuitively, adding obstacles and clutter can guide autonomous agents in pursuit of more efficient and safer paths.
(2) The topic of environment optimization is classically under-studied. Our initial set of publications has elucidated the importance and value of considering the environment as a decision variable, and has brought this topic to the forefront. In particular, we have provided strong theoretical guarantees on agent performance (under optimized environments), which will encourage uptake of the idea in the community at large across application sectors.