How robots coordinate when they can't talk to each other

In communication-blackout scenarios, robots must coordinate by predicting teammates' actions rather than exchanging messages. The authors built a system where each robot maintains probabilistic beliefs about what other robots believe, then uses these higher-order models to plan actions that anticipate team behavior. Tested in simulation and physical experiments, their approach reduced task completion time versus baseline methods, showing that epistemic reasoning—treating robot coordination as a logic puzzle—enables resilient teamwork under strict communication constraints.