<title>How to communicate with zillions of robots</title>

Abstract

This paper discusses some communications issues relevant to a system consisting of an arbitrarily large number of simple autonomous robots, from several different perspectives: (a) in the language of traditional communications systems analysis, (b) by analogy with biological systems, and (c) as a problem of intelligent control and data fusion. Emphasis is placed on support for the system development process: providing the developer with the ability to efficiently download software revisions and to determine the actual internal behavioral states of system elements while in operation. Also treated are the need to support coordination (or at least cooperation) between elements during system operation, and the process by which an external user can input commands to the system and to receive back from the system such information as system status, environmental characterization, and indications of mission progress. An approach to implementation of a low-cost testbed environment is also presented.