CLGA: A Collaborative LLM Framework for Dynamic Goal Assignment in Multi-Robot Systems

Abstract

Goal assignment is a critical challenge in multi-robot systems. The emergence of large language models (LLMs) has enabled the use of natural language commands for tackling goal assignment problems. However, applying LLMs directly to these tasks presents two limitations: 1) limited accuracy and 2) excessive decision delays due to their autoregressive nature, hindering adaptability to unexpected changes. To address these issues, inspired by dual-process theory, we propose a framework called Collaborative LLMs for dynamic Goal Assignment (CLGA). Specifically, we leverage LLMs for pre-planning tasks and invoke an external solver to generate an initial goal assignment solution, ensuring solution accuracy. During execution, small-scale models enable real-time adjustments to respond to dynamic environmental changes. This approach integrates the strengths of slow, precise pre-planning and fast, adaptive online adjustments, allowing agents to efficiently handle real-world challenges. Additionally, we introduce a benchmark dataset for NLP-based goal assignment to advance research in this domain. Simulation and real-world experiments demonstrate that CLGA significantly enhances task execution efficiency and flexibility in multi-robot systems. The prompt, experimental videos, and datasets associated with this work are available at https://sites.google.com/view/project-clga/.