Collective robotic intelligence :

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the problem of controlling multiple behaviour-based autonomous robots. Based on observations made from the study of social insects, we propose five simple mechanisms used to invoke group behaviour in simple sensor-based mobile robots. The proposed mechanisms allow populations of behaviour-based robots to perform tasks without centralized control or use of explicit communication. We have verified our collective control strategies by designing a robot population simulator called SimbotCity. We have also constructed a system of five homogeneous sensor-based mobile robots, capable of achieving simple collective tasks, to demonstrate the feasibility of some of the control mechanisms. 1 Introduction Can simple behaviour-based mobile robots achieve tasks collectively? The behaviour-based approach, characterized by a direct coupling of perception to action, has been demonstrated by a number of researchers on situated and embodied mobile robots (see[16] for several pa...