Multi-objective Conflict-based Search Using Safe-interval Path Planning

This paper addresses a generalization of the well known multi-agent path finding (MAPF) problem that optimizes multiple conflicting objectives simultaneously such as travel time and path risk. This generalization, referred to as multi-objective MAPF (MOMAPF), arises in several applications ranging from hazardous material transportation to construction site planning. In this paper, we present a new multi-objective conflict-based search (MO-CBS) approach that relies on a novel multi-objective safe interval path planning (MO-SIPP) algorithm for its low-level search. We first develop the MO-SIPP algorithm, show its properties and then embed it in MO-CBS. We present extensive numerical results to show that (1) there is an order of magnitude improvement in the average low level search time, and (2) a significant improvement in the success rates of finding the Pareto-optimal front can be obtained using the proposed approach in comparison with the state of the art. Finally, we also provide a case study to demonstrate the potential application of the proposed algorithms for construction site planning.