How can I build safe, deadlock-free multi-agent navigation?
LIVEPOINT: Fully Decentralized, Safe, Deadlock-Free Multi-Robot Control in Cluttered Environments with High-Dimensional Inputs
March 18, 2025
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2503.13098This paper introduces LIVEPOINT, a decentralized control framework for navigating multiple robots in cluttered environments using point cloud data as input. It prioritizes safety (no collisions) and liveness (no deadlocks) using a novel "universal CBF" that combines collision avoidance with a deadlock prevention mechanism. This mechanism identifies and resolves potential deadlocks by dynamically adjusting robot speeds based on an interaction metric that quantifies symmetry between robot trajectories. LIVEPOINT outperforms existing methods like ORCA, MPC-CBF, and MPNet in simulated doorway and intersection scenarios.
Key points for LLM-based multi-agent systems:
- Decentralized Control: Each robot acts independently based on local observations, mimicking independent agents in a multi-agent system.
- Real-time Adaptation: The system reacts to dynamic changes in the environment, crucial for interactive agent environments driven by LLMs.
- Safety and Liveness Guarantees: The framework prioritizes collision avoidance and deadlock prevention, translating to robust and reliable agent interactions.
- Point Cloud Input: Reliance on high-dimensional, readily available sensor data (like point clouds) rather than pre-built maps allows for flexible adaptation by agents.
- Dynamic Deadlock Resolution: The system's ability to predict and mitigate deadlocks is essential for maintaining responsiveness and efficient coordination between LLM-driven agents.