Communication-Aware Iterative Map Compression for Online Path-Planning

Abstract: This paper addresses the problem of optimizing communicated information among heterogeneous, resource-aware robot teams to facilitate their navigation. In such operations, a mobile robot compresses its local map to assist another robot in reaching a target within an uncharted environment. The primary challenge lies in ensuring that the map compression step balances network load while transmitting only the most essential information for effective navigation. We propose a communication framework that sequentially selects the optimal map compression in a task-driven, communication-aware manner. It introduces a decoder capable of iterative map estimation, handling noise through Kalman filter techniques. The computational speed of our decoder allows for a larger compression template set compared to previous methods, and enables applications in more challenging environments. Specifically, our simulations demonstrate a remarkable 98% reduction in communicated information, compared to a framework that transmits the raw data, on a large Mars inclination map and an Earth map, all while maintaining similar planning costs. Furthermore, our method significantly reduces computational time compared to the state-of-the-art approach.