Abstract

Area coverage and exploration of unknown environments by swarm robots autonomously is one of the challenges in the robotics domain. This paper proposes a new strategy for area coverage in two parts; firstly, enhancing a Pelican Optimization Algorithm (POA) using swarm robots to explore an unknown area. Secondly, merges many algorithms with the proposed POA, such as Timed Elastic Band (TEB) as a local planner for obstacle avoidance, SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), and a training model which is called You Only Look Once version 8 nano (YOLOv8n) for person detection. The proposed POA algorithm successfully monitored a large area and achieved a high exploration ratio with minimal time. In this work, the new strategy is applied to a robot warehouse environment, utilizing a swarm of robots to explore the area and find targets, which are employees suffocated by the effects of chemical pollution. The simulation and real-world tests for a new strategy were done in the Robot Operating System (ROS) using the TurtleBot3 robot. The total time-consuming for exploration and detection time is less by POA, while the coverage ratio is the largest when compared with the original RRT exploration algorithm for empty, small, and large environments, respectively.