From Tom Thumb to the Dockers: Some Experiments with Foraging Robots

Abstract

In this paper, we experiment, from the point of view of their efficiency, different implementations of the "explorer robots application". Three types of "Tom Thumb robots", whose behavior is based on the foraging behaviors of ants are proposed and their results are critically examined. We then introduce chain-making robots (the "dockers"), governed by local perceptions and interactions. This helps us to show that only a few changes in the robots' behavior may greatly improve the efficiency of the population. Introduction In the research conducted in the field of swarm intelligence, the "explorer robots application" appears to be one of the most common examples found to illustrate the capacity of a population of poorly intelligent creatures to handle with a global goal. In this case study, the goal is to make a team of robots find and collect samples in an unpredictable environment and take them back to a home base. These robots usually operate independently and behave in a quite simpl...