Abstract
This paper presents a hierarchical density-based model predictive control framework for safe collaborative manipulation by multiple quadrupedal robots. The framework enables a team of robots to push a shared object to a desired pose using only the initial and goal poses, without requiring a precomputed reference trajectory. A centralized box-level MPC optimizes contact forces while enforcing a control-density constraint for goal convergence and obstacle avoidance. Each robot then solves its own distributed robot-level whole-body MPC, under a stated shared-information assumption, to track its moving contact location while accounting for static obstacles and the time-varying positions of neighboring robots. The approach is evaluated in MuJoCo using whole-body contact dynamics for two and three Unitree Go2 quadrupeds collaboratively pushing rigid objects through narrow passages. Comparisons with matched Control Barrier Function and RRT* based tracking baselines demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed density-based formulation for push-only, force- and torque-coupled manipulation tasks. Implementation videos are available at https://jaggu2606.github.io/go2-density-mpc-pushing/
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Cite this article
APA 7
Sahoo, J. P., Narayanan, S. S. K. S., & Vaidya, U. (2026). Safe Multi-Robot Collaborative Transport Using Density Functions. https://omanscience.com/en/articles/safe-multi-robot-collaborative-transport-using-density-functions
MLA 9
Sahoo, Jagannath Prasad, et al. "Safe Multi-Robot Collaborative Transport Using Density Functions." https://omanscience.com/en/articles/safe-multi-robot-collaborative-transport-using-density-functions.
Chicago (author–date)
Sahoo, Jagannath Prasad, Sriram S. K. S. Narayanan, and Umesh Vaidya. 2026. "Safe Multi-Robot Collaborative Transport Using Density Functions." https://omanscience.com/en/articles/safe-multi-robot-collaborative-transport-using-density-functions.
Harvard
Sahoo, J. P., Narayanan, S. S. K. S. and Vaidya, U. (2026) 'Safe Multi-Robot Collaborative Transport Using Density Functions', Available at: https://omanscience.com/en/articles/safe-multi-robot-collaborative-transport-using-density-functions.
Vancouver
Sahoo JP, Narayanan SSKS, Vaidya U. Safe Multi-Robot Collaborative Transport Using Density Functions. https://omanscience.com/en/articles/safe-multi-robot-collaborative-transport-using-density-functions
IEEE
J. P. Sahoo, S. S. K. S. Narayanan, and U. Vaidya, "Safe Multi-Robot Collaborative Transport Using Density Functions," https://omanscience.com/en/articles/safe-multi-robot-collaborative-transport-using-density-functions.