Cascading Velocity Modulation for Multi-Agent Path Finding Execution

Abstract

Multi-Agent Path Finding (MAPF) plans are increasingly deployed on real multi-robot fleets, where communication dropouts, actuator faults, and sensor noise routinely cause individual robots to deviate from the planned trajectory. We propose Cascading Velocity Modulation (CVM), a continuous execution controller that maps the temporal margin on each dependency edge into a proportional velocity command and propagates an exponentially attenuated damping signal along the dependency chain. CVM runs a three-step control loop: self-recovery, direct cushioning, and cascade propagation. CVM reduces the makespan by about 25 percent on average compared to a binary baseline, over ten randomized scenarios with 5 to 8 agents, each containing a malfunctioning agent that suffers an unexpected delay. An experiment with eight e-puck2 robots reproduces about a 35 percent reduction under two simultaneously malfunctioning agents.