DiRAC - Distributed Robot Awareness and Consensus

TL;DR

DiRAC tackles the problem of scalable, deterministic coordination in very large robot swarms by integrating a zone-partitioned architecture with dynamically elected leaders and a tick-synchronized RAFT-inspired consensus. It combines a force-based, cooperative MAPF solver with decentralized task allocation and load balancing managed by zone leaders and a global super-leader, validated in ROS 2 simulations. The work contributes an integrated framework that preserves global coherence while enabling local computation, achieving strong consistency and low-latency communication across thousands of agents. This approach lays groundwork for real-world deployment in industrial logistics, offering resilience to disconnections and agent dropouts while supporting real-time decision making at scale.

Abstract

DiRAC is a scalable, distributed framework designed to enable efficient task assignment and path planning in very large robotic swarms. It introduces a novel zone-partitioned architecture with dynamically elected leaders and a tick-synchronized consensus protocol that yields strong consistency and deterministic outcomes. For path planning, DiRAC uses a novel algorithm, a force-based decentralized planner for real-time collision resolution. Validated within ROS 2 middleware through preliminary simulation, DiRAC demonstrates architectural scalability and modular efficiency in simulated warehouse environments, laying the groundwork for real-world deployment in large-scale industrial and logistics domains.

Figures (3)

• Figure 1: Database State Consensus Mechanism
• Figure 2: Illustrations of collision types detected and resolved in the force-based path-planning algorithm.
• Figure 3: Architecture Diagram