Time-Delayed k WTA Network Considering Communication Interference With Multirobot Applications
针对多机器人任务分配中的通信干扰和数据处理时延问题，提出一种时延k胜者全取网络，允许有向和无向通信并消除干扰，通过理论推导最大允许时延，仿真和实验验证了其有效性和鲁棒性。
As a competitive strategy, the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">k</i>-winners-take-all (<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">k</i>WTA) operation is capable of selecting <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">k</i> winners from <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">n</i> elements (such as neurons or input signals) to be activated, while the remaining elements are suppressed as losers to be inactivated. In a dynamic task allocation on a multirobot system, the relevant information can be subtly estimated through communications among robots. However, the interference in the communication process and the time-delayed problem caused by data processing are unavoidable. Therefore, a time-delayed <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">k</i>WTA network considering communication interference (TDCI-<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">k</i>WTA) is established in this article. Different from existing <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">k</i>WTA networks, the TDCI-<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">k</i>WTA network allows robots both directed and undirected communication while eliminating communication interference. Besides, the time-delayed problem is taken into account by the TDCI-<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">k</i>WTA network, and the maximum delay allowed is derived from theorems. By modeling the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">k</i>WTA operation as a nonlinear equation, lagging errors that exist in the solving process are eliminated due to the consideration of dynamic parameters. Theoretical analyses are given to demonstrate the convergence and robustness of the TDCI-<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">k</i>WTA network. Besides, simulations and experiments are further given to validate the effectiveness of the proposed network.