Graph Potential Field Neural Network for Massive Agents Group-Wise Path Planning

Abstract

Multi-agent path planning is important in both multi-agent path finding and multi-agent reinforcement learning areas. However, continual group-wise multi-agent path planning that requires the agents to perform as a team to pursue high team scores instead of individually is less studied. To address this problem, we propose a novel graph potential field-based neural network (GPFNN), which models a valid potential field map for path planning. Our GPFNN unfolds the T-step iterative optimization of the potential field maps as a T-layer feedforward neural network. Thus, a deeper GPFNN leads to more precise potential field maps without the over-smoothing issue. A potential field map inherently provides a monotonic potential flow from any source node to the target nodes to construct the optimal path (w.r.t. the potential decay), equipping our GPFNN with an elegant planning ability. Moreover, we incorporate dynamically updated boundary conditions into our GPFNN to address group-wise multi-agent path planning that supports both static targets and dynamic moving targets. Empirically, experiments on three different-sized mazes (up to $1025 \times 1025$ sized mazes) with up to 1,000 agents demonstrate the planning ability of our GPFNN to handle both static and dynamic moving targets. Experiments on extensive graph node classification tasks on six graph datasets (up to millions of nodes) demonstrate the learning ability of our GPFNN.