Extended Abstract of Ph.D Thesis Communication in Swarms of Miniature Mobile Robots

Swarm robotics is the study of large groups of relatively homogeneous robots and their task solving capabilities. The robots of a swarm robotic system are relatively simple and incapable when compared to the tasks that they are expected to accomplished [10]. Thus, it is important to have enough units and a distributed control law that is effective. Because the individual behaviour of social insects often inspires the control law design in swarm robotic systems, the control law of individual robots is usually referred to as individual behaviour. The behaviours of the robots are usually identical and make use of only local information. Combining these features, a swarm robot system offers potential advantages in robustness, flexibility and scalability [11]. However, the cause-effect of the individual behaviour in a swarm robot system is not straight forward when compared to the control law of a single robot. In other words, it is difficult to realize a specified system behaviour through designing the individual behaviours. This thesis examines the problem of how to achieve coordination in a swarm of miniature mobile robots. We study mechanisms that enable robots to perform distinct roles in the course of their interactions. In particular, we investigate how simple forms of communication can lead to an effective allocation of roles. The first part of the thesis is concerned with the task of spatial segregation. The swarms are required to organise into centre-periphery patterns (or annular structures). The second part of the thesis is concerned with the cooperative transport of a heavy object. The last part of thesis will be on foraging. The robot platform used is the e-puck miniature mobile robot [8]. It has two differential wheels, a directional colour camera pointing forward, and eight proximity sensors distributed around the robot’s perimeter.