This paper presents a novel strategy for autonomous teamed exploration of subterranean environments using legged and aerial robots. Tailored to the fact that subterranean settings, such as cave networks and underground mines, often involve complex, large-scale and multi-branched topologies, while wireless communication within them can be particularly challenging, this work is structured around the synergy of an onboard exploration path planner that allows for resilient long-term autonomy, and a multi-robot coordination framework. The onboard path planner is unified across legged and flying robots and enables navigation in environments with steep slopes, and diverse geometries. When a communication link is available, each robot of the team shares submaps to a centralized location where a multi-robot coordination framework identifies global frontiers of the exploration space to inform each system about where it should re-position to best continue its mission. The strategy is verified through a field deployment inside an underground mine in Switzerland using a legged and a flying robot collectively exploring for 45 min, as well as a longer simulation study with three systems.

翻译：本文介绍了利用牵制和空中机器人对地下环境进行自主团队探索的新战略,具体针对以下事实,即地下环境,如洞穴网络和地下矿井,往往涉及复杂、大规模和多波状的地形学,而其中的无线通信则特别具有挑战性,这项工作围绕在船上的探索路径规划器的协同作用进行,使具有复原力的长期自主能力,以及多机器人协调框架。在船上的路径规划器是双腿和飞行机器人的统一,能够在斜坡和不同地貌的环境中进行导航。如果有通信连接,小组的每个机器人将亚马图共享到一个集中的地点,在这个地点,多机器人协调框架确定勘探空间的全球边界,向每个系统通报其应该重新定位到何处才能最好地继续执行任务。该战略通过在瑞士的地下矿井内部署一个实地部署,使用一条腿和一个飞行机器人,集体探索45分钟,以及用三个系统进行更长时间的模拟研究来加以验证。