Robust coordinated aerial deployments for theatrical applications given online user interaction via behavior composition

Abstract

We propose and evaluate a multirobot system designed to enable live theatric presentation of episodic stories through online interaction between a performer and a robot system. The proposed system translates theatric performer intent into dynamically feasible robot trajectories without requiring prior knowledge of the ordering or timing of the desired robot motions. The system enables a user to issue instructions composed of desired motion descriptors at arbitrary times to specify the motion of the robot ensemble. The system refines user motion specifications into safe and dynamically feasible trajectories thereby reducing the cognitive burden placed on the performer. We evaluate the system on a team of aerial robots (quadrotors), and show through offline simulation and online performance that the proposed system formulation translates online input into non-colliding dynamically feasible trajectories enabling the performance of an epic poem over the course of a three act performance spanning fifteen minutes of coordinated flight by a six robot team.