Controlling the Movement of Robotic Bodyguards for Maximal Physical Protection

In this paper we focus on a scenario where one or several robotic bodyguards protect a VIP moving in a public environment from physical assaults. To provide maximal physical protection, the robotic bodyguards need to consider the movement of the crowd as well as the obstacles in the environment. We propose two algorithms: Threat Vector Resolution (TVR) for a single bodyguard robot and Quadrant Load Balancing (QLB) for multiple bodyguards acting as a team. We evaluate the proposed approaches using metrics of the threat level and movement dynamics. The simulation study compares the results of the proposed approaches against rigid bodyguard team formations for various crowd configurations and team sizes.