Auction-based Task Allocation Mechanisms for Managing Fruit Harvesting Tasks
Title: Auction-based Task Allocation Mechanisms for Managing Fruit Harvesting Tasks
Authors: Helen Harman (Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology, University of Lincoln); Elizabeth I. Sklar (Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology, University of Lincoln);
Year: 2021
Citation: Harman, H., Sklar, E. I., (2021). Auction-based Task Allocation Mechanisms for Managing Fruit Harvesting Tasks. UKRAS21 Conference: “Robotics at home” Proceedings, 47-48. doi: 10.31256/Dg2Zp9Q
Abstract:
Multi-robot task allocation mechanisms are de-
signed to distribute a set of activities fairly amongst a set
of robots. Frequently, this can be framed as a multi-criteria
optimisation problem, for example minimising cost while max-
imising rewards. In soft fruit farms, tasks, such as picking ripe
fruit at harvest time, are assigned to human labourers. The
work presented here explores the application of multi-robot task
allocation mechanisms to the complex problem of managing a
heterogeneous workforce to undertake activities associated with
harvesting soft fruit.