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.

In this paper we consider a scenario where one or more robotic bodyguards are protecting an important individual (VIP) moving in a public space against harassment or harm from unarmed civilians. In this scenario, the main objective of the robots is to position themselves such that at any given moment they provide maximum physical cover for the VIP. The robots need to follow the VIP in its movement and take into account the movements of the civilians as well. The environment can also contain obstacles which present challenges to movement but also provide natural cover. We designed two algorithms for the movement of the bodyguard robots: Threat Vector Resolution (TVR) for a single robot and Quadrant Load Balancing (QLB) for teams of bodyguard robots. We evaluated the proposed approaches against rigid formations in a simulation study.