NoStop: An Open Source Framework for Design and Test of Coordination Protocol for Asymmetric Threats Protection in Marine Environment

NoStop is an open source simulator dedicated to distributed and cooperative mobile robotics systems. It has been designed as a framework to design and test multi–agent collaborative algorithms in terms of performance and robustness. The particular application scenario of a team of autonomous guards that coordinate to protect an area from asymmetric threat is considered. NoStop system is an integrated tool able to both evaluate the coordination protocol performance and to design the team of guards involved in the asymmetric threat protection. Moreover, NoStop is designed to validate robustness of coordination protocol through the use of a remote pilot that control the intruder motion to escape from the guards that monitor the area and accomplish its mission. The project core is a simulation server with a dynamic engine and a synchronization facility. Different coordination protocol can be designed and easily integrated in NoStop. The framework is fully integrated with the Robot Operating System (ROS) and it is completed by a control station where the remote pilot moves the intruder following the guards evolution in a 3D viewer.