Communication is a core enabler for multi-robot systems (MRS), providing the mechanism through which robots exchange state information, coordinate actions, and satisfy safety constraints. While many MRS autonomy algorithms assume reliable and timely message delivery, realistic wireless channels introduce delay, erasures, and ordering stalls that can degrade performance and compromise safety-critical decisions of the robot task. In this paper, we investigate how transport-layer reliability mechanisms that mitigate communication losses and delays shape the autonomy-communication loop. We show that conventional non-coded retransmission-based protocols introduce long delays that are misaligned with the timeliness requirements of MRS applications, and may render the received data irrelevant. As an alternative, we advocate for adaptive and causal network coding, which proactively injects coded redundancy to achieve the desired delay and throughput that enable relevant data delivery to the robotic task. Specifically, this method adapts to channel conditions between robots and causally tunes the communication rates via efficient algorithms. We present two case studies: cooperative localization under delayed and lossy inter-robot communication, and a safety-critical overtaking maneuver where timely vehicle-to-vehicle message availability determines whether an ego vehicle can abort to avoid a crash. Our results demonstrate that coding-based communication significantly reduces in-order delivery stalls, preserves estimation consistency under delay, and improves deadline reliability relative to retransmission-based transport. Overall, the study highlights the need to jointly design autonomy algorithms and communication mechanisms, and positions network coding as a principled tool for dependable multi-robot operation over wireless networks.

翻译：通信是多机器人系统（MRS）的核心使能技术，为机器人交换状态信息、协调行动并满足安全约束提供了机制。尽管许多MRS自主算法假设消息传递可靠且及时，但实际的无线信道会引入延迟、丢包和乱序停滞，从而降低系统性能并危及机器人任务的安全关键决策。本文研究了传输层可靠性机制（用于缓解通信丢失与延迟）如何影响自主-通信闭环。我们发现，传统的基于非编码重传的协议会引入长延迟，这与MRS应用的时效性要求不匹配，并可能导致接收数据失效。为此，我们提出采用自适应因果网络编码作为替代方案，该方法通过主动注入编码冗余来实现所需的延迟与吞吐量，从而确保相关数据能有效传递至机器人任务。具体而言，该方法能自适应机器人间的信道条件，并通过高效算法因果调整通信速率。我们展示了两个案例研究：在延迟且存在丢包的机器人间通信下的协同定位，以及一个安全关键的超车场景——其中车对车消息的及时可用性决定了主车能否中止操作以避免碰撞。实验结果表明，基于编码的通信能显著减少有序交付停滞，在延迟条件下保持估计一致性，并相比基于重传的传输机制提高了截止时间可靠性。总体而言，本研究强调了联合设计自主算法与通信机制的必要性，并将网络编码定位为无线网络中实现可靠多机器人运行的一种原理性工具。