Property-driven design for swarm robotics

In this paper, we propose a novel top-down design method for the development of collective behaviors of swarm robotics systems called property-driven design. Swarm robotics systems are usually designed and developed using a code-and-fix approach, that is, the developer devises, tests and modifies the individual robot behaviors until a desired collective behavior is obtained. The code-and-fix approach can be very time consuming and relies completely on the ingenuity and expertise of the designer. The idea of property-driven design is that a swarm robotics system can be described by specifying formally a set of desired properties. In an iterative process similar to test-driven development, the developer produces a model of the system that satisfies the desired properties. Subsequently, the system is implemented in simulation and using real robots. Property-driven design helps to minimize the risk of developing a system that does not satisfy the required properties, and to promote the reuse of hardware independent models. In this paper, we start by giving a general description of the method. We then present a possible way to apply it by using Discrete Time Markov Chains (DTMC) and Probabilistic Computation Tree Logic* (PCTL*). Finally, we conclude by presenting the application of the proposed method to the design and development of a swarm robotics system performing aggregation.