Edge Detection in Static and Dynamic Environments using Robot Swarms

Abstract

Robotic systems offer an attractive solution for a large spectrum of real-world applications that are hosted in dangerous or inaccessible areas for humans. In such applications, one of the fundamental tasks is to detect and mark particular features (e.g., pollution areas) in order to develop a proper response. In this paper, we focus on the specific problem of environmental edge detection using a swarm of homogeneous robots that can sense and act distributively using a large number of individuals. In our study, we consider both static and dynamic 2D environments, in which the spatial distribution of the feature(s) may change over time. We verify our results using a set of physics-based simulations.