Integrating Robotic Navigation with Blockchain: A Novel PoS-Based Approach for Heterogeneous Robotic Teams

TL;DR

The paper tackles navigation for heterogeneous robot teams in GPS-denied and dynamic environments by marrying Wide Area Visual Navigation with a PoS-based blockchain framework. It formalizes stake-based weighting $W(r_i)$, a PoS consensus score $C_{PoS}$, and a navigability measure $N_{PoS}$ to prioritize reliable navigation data while reducing centralized verification, with complexities $O(m \binom{n}{2})$ and $O(n^2 m)$. Preliminary experiments with 10 robots and 20 landmarks demonstrate how navigability evolves with team interactions, landmark quality, and transaction-driven trust, yielding blocks and transactions that reflect cooperative data validation. The work suggests a path toward scalable, decentralized, and verifiable cooperative navigation in autonomous robotics beyond traditional financial blockchain use cases, with potential impact on efficiency and robustness in GPS-denied and large-scale deployments.

Abstract

This work explores a novel integration of blockchain methodologies with Wide Area Visual Navigation (WAVN) to address challenges in visual navigation for a heterogeneous team of mobile robots deployed for unstructured applications in agriculture, forestry, etc. Focusing on overcoming challenges such as GPS independence, environmental changes, and computational limitations, the study introduces the Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism, commonly used in blockchain systems, into the WAVN framework \cite{Lyons_2022}. This integration aims to enhance the cooperative navigation capabilities of robotic teams by prioritizing robot contributions based on their navigation reliability. The methodology involves a stake weight function, consensus score with PoS, and a navigability function, addressing the computational complexities of robotic cooperation and data validation. This innovative approach promises to optimize robotic teamwork by leveraging blockchain principles, offering insights into the scalability, efficiency, and overall system performance. The project anticipates significant advancements in autonomous navigation and the broader application of blockchain technology beyond its traditional financial context.

Figures (3)

• Figure 1: The trajectory of each robot throughout the experiment illustrates how the position of each robot has evolved.
• Figure 2: Arrangement of robots in the initial (above) and final loops (below). Red circles represent the positions of landmarks, while squares denote robots that move randomly. Lines connect common landmarks to the corresponding robots, illustrating the relationships between each pair of robots and their common landmarks.
• Figure 3: Navigability over time (blocks). Colors represent the different blocks. Over time, the number of blocks grows, and the navigability matrix values within each block experience changes. Each point on the graph represents the average values of elements in the navigability matrix at the block's generation time. The intervals between these points are unequal and align with the generation of blocks over time.