Collective Robotics: From Social Insects to Robots

Abstract

Achieving tasks with multiple robots will require a control system that is both simple and scalable as the number of robots increases. Collective behavior as demonstrated by social insects is a form of decentralized control that may prove useful in controlling multiple robots. Nature's several examples of collective behavior have motivated our approach to controlling a multiple robot system using a group behavior. Our mechanisms, used to invoke the group behavior, allow the system of robots to perform tasks without centralized control or explicit communication. We have constructed a system of five mobile robots capable of achieving simple collective tasks to verify the results obtained in simulation. The results suggest that decentralized control without explicit communication can be used to perform cooperative tasks requiring a collective behavior.